


Space Makes Everything Gayer

by Makkachina



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura and Lance are Siblings, Altean Keith (Voltron), Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Has this been done yet?, Light Angst, M/M, Prince Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, au where Altea is still a thing, fluff?, i cant bring myself to hurt these two dorks that much so dont worry, im doing it anyway, im serious about the slow burn, just got off on the wrong foot, they'll get there though, theyre not really enemies tho, umm graphic depictions of lance's shitty pick-up lines, what else do i tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-03-04 13:31:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13365735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Makkachina/pseuds/Makkachina
Summary: Due to various circumstances, Keith unfortunately finds himself stuck being the personal body-guard of the most ridiculous, pompous, and childish man he's ever met. Otherwise known as Lance- Prince Lance, that is. As the youngest member of the Blades of Marmora, Keith has been in countless battles and dangerous situations, skillfully fighting his way out of each and every one. This time however, Keith is beginning to accept the fact that he won't be making it out of this mission alive...intact at leastLance did NOT need a babysitter. Sure, he has a tendency to get himself into trouble, but this time his father's punishment had gone too far. And why does his new body-guard have to be the most grumpy and ill-tempered bump on the log in the entire quiznaking solar system?lol so this is basically the plot of Merlin, but in space





	1. Do You Have a Map? Because I'm Getting Lost in Your Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Some basic setting to this au: the whole thing with Zarkon and Honerva happened, the Galra home planet was destroyed. Alfor hid the lions so Zarkon couldn't use the power of Voltron to wage war against the Altean Empire and the rest of the entire fuckingg universe. The Galran people are struggling to revive themselves, they're refugees. Zarkon's just lying in wait, gathering his strength so he can eventually take revenge or whatever. That was all 15 years ago, and political tensions have begun to rise again between the Galrans and the Alteans. All of that isn't really the focus for this fic but it plays a role in setting the scene i guess??
> 
> yeah this is basically just the plot for Merlin lol, except Alfor isn't a salty dick, unlike Uther Pendragon, and it's a whole lot gayer (although to be fair Merlin is pretty fucking gay )  
> sooo yeah, enjoy!

 

Prince Lance had always believed in fate. To him it was a fact of existence- that people and opportunities were placed into your life for a reason; there was no such thing as a coincidence. It was this belief that led Lance to take hold of every new and wonderful experience that came his way. Some might say that the extent of which he embraced these “fated opportunities” was irresponsible and childish, but he preferred to think of himself as more spontaneous and endearing. Like when he spontaneously ditched a royal hearing (he was just going to be standing there anyway) to go watch the sunset over Silix Lake with a b _eautiful_ Ronsinian diplomat. Or like when he, quite endearingly, “impulse bought” (it was fate!) six Greater Tusked Bobogots (think giant fluffy lion dogs that would most definitely kill you) for his sister Princess Allura’s birthday. She was the only who appreciated it.

It’s not like any of his whimsical escapades were hurting anyone or getting (too much) in the way though, they were completely harmless!

At least… they were.

 The older he got, the smaller his home planet Aris became, and the more responsibilities were piled atop his shoulders the less he was able to get away and explore other solar systems and galaxies. With Allura taking on a larger role as the eldest child and heir to the throne, and their father King Alfor spending most of his time teaching her the ins and outs of running a kingdom, a now 19 year-old and extremely stir-crazy Lance was left on his own to slowly spiral into boredom induced madness. Which may or may not have something to do with the stunt he was about to pull.

The only way that the prince was allowed to leave the palace grounds was if he was accompanied by an escort of royal guards, which was majorly inconvenient for two reasons: the first being that it totally clashed his style, and the second being that he didn’t get to really ~experience~ the cities and towns as they are meant to be experienced by regular people. It’s not that Lance was ungrateful for being born into a position of power and nobility, or that he wished he could lead a “normal” life...he just wanted to be treated like an actual person, just a guy named Lance, without all the fancy titles, fake smiles, and soul-crushing expectations; which was why Lance so desperately needed this plan to work. He had overheard some of the servants talking excitedly about some town festival celebration thingy, something to do with stars, maybe? Regardless what it was called or what it was about, it met all of the young prince’s criteria for a good time: delicious food, lively music, and a sea of smokin’ hot alien babes! All it took was a skillful application of his natural charm to borrow some clothes from one of the servants, and some well practiced coughs and feigned dizziness to convince his family that he was _feeling a bit under the weather,_ and that he should really just turn in for bed early tonight. After his masterful performance and some convincing Lance-shaped lumps made underneath his bed sheet (you had to get it _just_ right), he was ready to carry out his masterful escape plan.

 Lance opened his window and climbed his way down his makeshift rope from his second story bedroom (a little cliché but hey, whatever works). Landing in some red flower beds, he picked his way through the clinging branches and headed off towards the main gate, tromping through the palace grounds with as much stealth as he could muster.

 _Now comes the hard part_ , he thought to himself. Obviously the gate was guarded, but this was the only way in or out of the palace, so Lance didn’t have much of a choice but to take the risk and hope his disguise worked. The clothes he borrowed were rather plain compared to what he usually donned, but in this situation that was definitely for the better. Tonight’s outfit featured  an ordinary, dark green tunic with matching trousers, a grey hooded cloak, and a pair of scuffed, well worn leather boots. _Could be worse_ , he mused. Drawing the faded grey cloak closer around him and tugging on the hood, Lance approached the gate in what he hoped was a casual _don’t mind me, just your average servant-dude, nothing to see here_ kind of way. He most definitely was not sweating nervously, nor was his stomach lurching from adrenaline as he approached the gate. When he drew closer, he gave one of the guards a friendly nod, to which they responded with a similar nod of their own.

 _Almost there,_ Lance was now stepping past the guards and exiting the gate when he heard a gruff “Hold on a tic.”

_Quiznak._

He felt his heart beat stop momentarily before plummeting into his gut as he turned back around to accept his doom.

“Y-yes?” was all he managed to squeak out.

“You on your way to the Quintessence Honouration?” questioned the suddenly larger and much scarier guard. Lance opened his mouth to bumble out some half-assed response when, _thank the heavens_ , the man continued,

“Make sure you check out Abbot’s Grill; best damn skewered barbeque in the whole city.”

“O-oh, right yeah! Thanks, I’ll ah- check it out!”, relief flooded his entire body as he flashed the satisfied guard a reassuring grin and continued on his way down the road, heart now pounding away in chest once again at an alarmingly high rate. _Phew, that was close._

Just ahead, colourful lights and lanterns shone enticingly in the cool night air and Lance could already make out the energetic beats of the festival music joined with the cheers and praises of people having a good time. The walk down to the main thoroughfare was only a couple hundred tics, and in no time at all the escapee prince was surrounded by the warm glow of fellowship- people of all ages and species joined together, laughing, dancing, eating, singing, and just enjoying each other’s company and all the fantastic and exciting things the festival had to offer. The inviting aromas of spices and exotic flavours clung thickly to the atmosphere, making Lance painfully aware of the fact that he skipped dinner as a part of his ‘I’m not feeling well’ act. Stomach growling with anticipation, he made his way down one of the streets, a smile resting easily on his face as he gazed in wonderment at all the stalls lining either side of the road. One merchant was selling beautifully intricate cloths and fabrics- definitely worthy of royalty, Lance noted with awe. Another stall featured a lush and colourful display of exotic fruits in every shade from a fiery gold to a brilliantly glowing cyan. The prince couldn’t help feeling completely mesmerized by the foreign world he’d suddenly become immersed in, it seemed to sparkle and dance around him, filling him with warmth and a strange sense of growing excitement which threatened to bubble out of him. Sure, he’d been outside of the palace before- heck, he’s travelled all across the galaxy- but all of those times Lance had a role to fill, a princely frame to stand in, a duty to represent the Kingdom of Altea and his father. Lance didn’t resent his role, and he really strived to do his best as a royal prince, but lately he’s been feeling more and more like his best just isn’t good enough. He’d never considered himself to be particularly intelligent or tactile, and he definitely wasn’t a natural born leader or diplomat like Allura. In fact, he had a pretty widely known track record for messing things up, getting in the way, and being generally incapable of handling any amount of actual responsibility. The worst part was that he actually _tried_ , tried to help out, tried to be a valuable member of society, but it somehow always backfired on him. It seemed to Lance like the only thing he was good for was a laugh and a pretty face. _At least I have my good looks._

 Out here however, where no one even knew his name, Lance felt like he could finally breathe easy and actually allow himself to enjoy the night without the fear of messing up or saying the wrong thing or making a joke at the wrong time; there was nobody to care if he did! Even if it was only for one night, Lance thought, he needed to get away and forget everything for a couple of hours.

Shaking his head to clear away the depressing thoughts, Lance turned his attention to more pressing matters: like finding some dinner! Walking over to a cluster of food stalls, he weighed his options: skewered Ondronian tails, candied pikolos, fried gyak, and… _is that just green goop?!_   _Ughhh this would be so much easier if Hunk were with me,_ Lance thought with a dejected sigh. Hunk had been his best friend for as long as Lance could remember, and the guy had insane gastronomical talent- he always knew exactly what ingredients would go well together and could probably navigate all these foreign foods 1000x better than Lance could. _Wait a sec-_ Lance sniffed the air, desperately trying to pinpoint the single aroma amongst all the others swarming his senses- _is that what I think it is?_ If it was indeed what Lance thought it was then he was about to become the happiest man alive because for a moment he swore he caught the intoxicatingly sweet scent of frozen kitya flower, a wonderfully rich delicacy known for its extremely  high sugar content. Hunk always scolded Lance whenever he ate it, saying things like “it’s going to totally ruin your palate” and “all your teeth are going to rot if you keep eating that garbage”, but it was one of his favourite deserts and no amount of serious health concerns would deter him from indulging himself. Nose stuck up into the air like a wild animal on the hunt for its next meal, Lance wandered off into the crowds, following that wholesome smell of cavities.

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 Keith was definitely going to die. Of boredom. He was sure of it. There was nothing- absolutely nothing- worse than being stuck on guard duty. Of course, he was fully aware that he had brought this on himself- disobeying direct orders and costing his squad the loss of a major client definitely came with consequences. But guard duty? _Really_? And at some local festival no less…honestly, the worst thing that could happen here would be someone passing out into a food coma. This was a job for a rookie sentry, not a fully-fledged member of the Blades of Marmora.

 _For how much longer though?_ Keith cringed inwardly. This civic guard assignment was only probationary until Commander Shirogane, the leader of the Blades, decided on how Keith would be punished for the stunt he pulled on their last mission. Memories of their last conversation started to surface as Keith wandered down the city street…

_“What were you even thinking?! Blatantly ignoring orders and running off on your own on a completely suicidal mission?? You could’ve been killed!”_

_“I-I know- Shiro I’m sorry okay? But I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing! They needed help!”_

_“Argh!” Shiro seemed really frustrated- it was rare to see the usually patient man get this angry, especially with Keith. “That’s just the problem Keith, you always let your emotions and personal problems cloud over and get the better of you- if you keep acting recklessly like this somebody’s going to end up hurt, or dead- do you even think about these things?!”_

_“Somebody might’ve died if I hadn’t done anything!” Keith was shouting now. This conversation was quickly accelerating into a heated argument. Keith absolutely hated arguing like this, especially with Shiro, who was practically an older brother to him. Unfortunately his quick temper gave him a natural talent for picking fights._

_“It wasn’t your job Keith! You had no right to act in that situation; you can’t possibly hope to save every person in the universe- you need to learn when to quit!” Shiro let out a deep sigh, bringing his fingers up to pinch his brow. After taking a moment to collect himself, he continued, voice a little calmer, “I understand where you’re coming from, but no matter how good your intentions were that’s not what we were hired to do. You’re extremely lucky that you didn’t get caught, neither I nor the Blades of Marmora would’ve been able to protect you_ _if_ _you had.”_

_Keith clenched his jaw and glared intensely at his feet, ready to spit out another brash retort, but Shiro continued,_

_“Of course that doesn’t mean you’ll being going unpunished”, Shiro said sternly, raising an eyebrow at him._

_Here we go. Keith was expecting this; maybe this time he’ll have to clean the cryogenic pods, or scrub the cruiser jets with an ionic toothbrush, or maybe-_

_“You’re being demoted to a civic guard.”_

_In that moment Keith swore he could actually feel his soul being ripped from his body and flung at warp-speed into the nearest dying star._

_“Wait- what? Shiro no, anything but guard duty, I’ll do anything- Shiro please!” he pleaded frantically, but as he looked up at his closest friend, searching his eyes in a panic, Keith knew in his heart that his fate had already been decided. Shiro resembled a mountain in both stature and character- once he’s made up his mind there was absolutely nothing that could stand in his way._

_“I’m sorry, but this was the last straw Keith. Part of this is my fault, I think I’ve been going too easy on you when it comes to discipline, but this time I’m serious. This is just probationary, it’s not going to be permanent, but I hope you take this time to cool down and carefully consider what your next steps need to be so you’ll be of better help to the team. Keith, you’re one of our best pilots and a skilled fighter- but we need you to be at your best…you’ve got the potential to become a fearsome leader someday, but you need to work through some things first and gain some real experiences that aren’t on a battlefield”, Shiro smirked with that last comment, “I promised to look after you didn’t I? So trust me on this one- it’ll be good for you!”_

Keith forced himself back to the present with a miserable groan. Just ahead, some Altean children were giggling and chasing each other with bioluminescent sticks; a young starry-eyed couple was wandering hand in hand, and over on the other side of the street a large family was laughing and bickering as they stood in line together waiting for their food. Everyone seemed to be in high-spirits, enjoying the cheery festivities, yet the longer Keith stayed and observed the more he noticed the heavy emptiness that he always tried so hard to ignore come creeping out of the depths of his sub-conscious. He shook his head and quickly buried whatever those feelings were with another layer of agitation, and continued on his patrol.

As his gaze dully drifted over the crowd, his eyes suddenly latched on to a specific figure standing just ahead wearing a dark grey cloak. The man was leaning playfully over the counter of a food stall, cooing something at the very exasperated looking attendant. There wasn’t anything suspicious looking about this person; he was tall and lanky, with deep tan skin and trim white hair which… actually looked pretty soft?  Keith shook his head. The subject appeared to be just a regular Altean citizen, so why was he getting such a weird vibe from him? Something was definitely off, Keith just couldn’t quite put a finger on it. He could almost hear Shiro’s voice inside his head telling him to leave it alone, that he was getting ahead of himself again, but Keith had learned to always trust his gut, and in this scenario his gut was definitely telling him to investigate.

  Taking a few steps closer as casually as he could manage, Keith strained his ears to listen in on the exchange, but nearly groaned when he heard the man speak:

“If I had a star for every time you brightened my day, I’d have a galaxy in my hand.”

The pretty alien girl blinked, and then narrowed her solid yellow eyes as she coolly stated,

 “Sir, we only met a few seconds ago.”

For a moment the young man seemed to freeze up, but after a pause he recovered his composure, seemingly undeterred, and shot a devilish grin up to the girl:

 “Do you have a map? Because I’m getting lost in your eyes,” he drawled out.

The second-hand embarrassment from watching this conversation was so extreme Keith wasn’t sure if he wanted to rip his ears off or just sink down directly into the void. Keith had guessed that something was off about this guy, but he never imagined he was just so immensely stupid that Keith could feel the lack of brain cells radiating off of him in waves. The poor girl- a Balmeran, judging by her stubby horns and thick grey skin- looked equally unimpressed with the situation, and Keith couldn’t help but feel bad for her.

“If you’re lost I can give you directions to the nearest space hospital; clearly you belong there if you think this attempt at flattery is going to make me give you free food,” she said, making no effort to mask her annoyance.

With one of the most dramatic sighs Keith had ever seen, the young man flung his upper body to lay across the counter in despondence, groaning like a child. However, just as quickly as the outburst began, he seemed to do a complete 180, bolting back upright with newfound determination.

“Please you have to believe me! I’ll pay you back! I just don’t have my wallet with me right now,” he desperately pleaded, “I’m absolutely starving and your frozen kitya is the only thing that will satiate me! Can’t you take pity on such a woesome yet irresistibly charming guy?”

That’s it. Keith didn’t think he would actually survive if this flamboyant display went on any longer. The guy was overwhelmingly arrogant, but he did seem genuine- besides, keeping the public peace was one of his duties now.

“Look, I’m sure it’s very difficult for you,” started the girl, “but it wouldn’t matter even if you were the prince of Altea himself; no money means no food, end of-”

“Excuse me,” Keith interrupted, “I’ll pay for whatever he wants.”

At that, the other man turned to face him, surprise clearly written across his face, and Keith was able to get a good look at him finally. He seemed to be around the same age as Keith, around 20 or so, but he was taller and had a lighter build. His facial features were all sharp and angular- small but very defined. Sparkling light blue eyes, like Altean crystal, locked onto his own, and Keith could see the innocence and (much to his surprise) intelligence reflected in them. Just underneath his eyes, in the corners of his cheekbones, were two blue v-shaped markings that were distinct to Alteans (Keith’s were red).

The guy seemed caught off his guard, a little panicky even as he worked his mouth into a spasm trying to articulate himself, which, as Keith observed, wasn’t very proficient at all.

“Wha-, are you? Yeah? I-I oh ah um, okay sure yeah geez man, uh I mean sir- I uh thanks, yes, thanks! You’re a real life saver I mean seriously, oh uh I swear I’ll pay you back everything I owe, it’s just that- ugh I’m such an idiot you know? I actually forgot my wallet- but I’m sure you know how it is, right? A-anyways thank you so much, honestly! I don’t know what I would’ve done-”

Keith raised a hand to cut off his incessant rambling. The intelligence he thought saw a moment ago must’ve been a trick of the light, because this guy was a complete bumbling idiot. Why was Keith even suspicious of him in the first place?

“It’s alright,” Keith said. He continued with a sarcastic smirk, “You can pay me back by promising not to harass anyone else like you did to this poor civilian here.”

“Oh, uh. Yeaaah haha…” his sentence trailed off as he lifted a sheepish arm to rub the back of his neck and stared intently at his feet.

                Sighing, Keith turned to the booth and paid the woman, who looked nothing but relieved, and who in turn handed the flustered young man his food.

Keith scrunched up his face when he noticed what exactly he had been trying to purchase this whole time.

“Ugh, really? Frozen kitya? Eating pure sugar would probably be healthier than that, how can you even put that in your mouth?” he protested. At that, the man’s head shot up, chin jutted and brow pointed dramatically, apparently over his momentary embarrassment.

“I’ll have you know that the kitya flower is a beautiful delicacy that only exceptionally refined palettes, like my own, can truly appreciate”, the man declared in his own defense.

 _Geez,_ Keith thought to himself, _this guy acts as if he’s royalty._

“Pfft!” he scoffed, “Refined? More like completely and utterly rotten.”

“Whatever, Mr. Grumpy-pants”, the man jeered back at him. His face softened a little, and then “Oh wait, I never did get your name…”

“Lieuten- uh, Kogane, Keith Kogane. And you are?”

“Name’s Lan- ahhh Hunk”, he stammered.

Keith raised his eyebrow quizzically, “Lanaahunk…?”

“No just Hunk, yep that’s my name, definitely, why would it be anything else? Haha ha…”

“Okayyyy then, _Hunk_. Well, enjoy the rest of the festivities tonight and try to stay out of trouble,” Keith tried for a smile. This guy “Hunk”- if that even was his real name- was the living definition of weird. He was practically screaming “I’m definitely up to something suspicious and I really don’t want to get caught”.

“Right! Thanks, you too! Oh, not that you would ever get into trouble, being an officer of the law and all haha…aaanyways yeah um have a good night- thanks again!”

 Keith’s eyes narrowed as he watched “Hunk” skip off into the crowd, happily munching down his frozen treat. Should he follow him? Logically speaking, Keith really shouldn’t go off on his own and ignore his duties; after all that was what got him on probation in the first place… but in that moment as his target started to disappear from sight, he felt as if there were suddenly a cord tied tight around his gut, tugging him in the direction of the mysterious figure with a fierce sense of urgency. After a moment of strangled pondering, Keith sighed, defeated. As his eyes frantically latched on to the white head of hair, which was growing smaller with each passing second, Keith wholeheartedly gave in to his impulsive nature and stalked after the curious man. As he followed him into the raging sea of glitzy colours and twinkling lights, Keith was hopelessly unaware of the nightmare he was about to become entrenched in.


	2. Why Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is a damsel in distress and Keith is not helping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! An update!   
> fyi for the purposes of maintaining my own sanity and not causing readers any unnecessary confusion, I'll be using earth terms when it comes to measuring time for the most part! Ticks excluded, I can't remember what any of the other terms are lol  
> also i literally edited this at 3am so if there's any mistakes, that's why...
> 
> Possible Trigger? A little bit of violence, it's not super intense though, really short. There's a knife, but there's no mention or suggestion of blood, no gore at all
> 
> anyways, hope you enjoy! <3

**CHAPTER TWO**

It was dark. As Lance took in his surroundings he couldn’t spot a single street light, and the festival sounds had faded off to a mere roar off in the distance. _Freaking hell, how did I manage to get so completely and utterly lost?_ If anyone could do it, Lance could, he mused. Lance had just been wandering around, taking in the sights and enjoying his outrageously sweet snack, when all of a sudden he found himself approximately 47 million miles away from any form of actual civilization. Okay, so maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but as Lance nervously glanced around at the dark and abandoned buildings, not a single soul in sight, it might as well be 47 million fucking miles. A sudden gust of wind howled and shrieked its way through the narrow street, making him nearly jump out of his skin.

_I’m calm, everything is calm. It’s just the wind Lance, nothing scary about it at all. None of this is at all scary, or creepy, or spooky or-…why do I have the feeling someone’s watching me? NO. Don’t think about that. It’s all in your head Lance, you’re just imagining things…_

Earlier, Lance had thought he heard some different music playing a couple blocks over. Eager to check it out, he went off searching, but quickly found himself turned around. A couple of poorly chosen “shortcuts” down some sketchy alleyways later and, well, here Lance was, in the middle of freaking nowhere and completely surrounded by lurking shadows and eerie silence.

Gah, what he wouldn’t give to have that cute guard help him out again. When the man had approached him earlier, Lance started to panic big time, thinking he’d been found out, but then the guard _actually bought him food???_  His generosity had warmed his heart… of course his deep purple eyes and soft black hair that curled ever so slightly around his face didn’t hurt either. Too bad the handsome stranger was a total prick, or Lance might’ve been tempted to try some of his pick-up lines on him.

 Still, even the company of a stick-in-the-mud would be welcome right about now, especially if that stick-in-the-mud knew where the fuck he was actually going.

The crunch of a quick foot-step behind him drew Lance out of his reverie, causing his heart to jump in his chest, and then stop completely when he felt a cold, rough grip on his arm. Squawking with all the dignity becoming of a startled mouse, he flailed, twisting and yanking his arm away from whomever or whatever had grabbed him.

He stumbled a few steps back, eyes wary and fists ready for action. Meeting the eyes of his assailant, Lance noted that it was definitely a “whomever”: an Unilu by the looks of it, with a mean looking face that was covered in scars and weird piercings. He (Lance presumed they were a he, although one could never really be sure) stared Lance down like a predator stalking its prey, and the malicious smirk on his face sent chills down his spine and caused him to take another couple steps back.

…Steps back that led him straight into the waiting arms of a second creep, except this one had a knife.

Lance all but stopped breathing as he felt the cold, sharp blade press against his throat.

“Woah- ah, hey-” he choked out.

“You were right, Blarx,” the first guy smirked, “this one has a pretty face, for an Altean. I know of a couple of big-names who’d pay a hefty price to get their hands on a body like that.”

“Wait what?! B-body??” Lance started waving his arms around in a panic, though not too wildly as to shift the edge of the knife still digging into his neck.

 “Hold up, you are NOT selling my body or- gahchh!” The blade pressed harder against his skin, and the iron grip on his arm tightened, further restraining him.

“Listen here punk”, the one called Blarx spat into his ear, “You don’t get to talk back right now. Cooperate nicely and we won’t hurt you… too much, hehe.”

A damp, smelly rag was forced into his mouth, and Lance let out muffled screams in between spurts of gagging.

Something hard slammed into his abdomen, causing him to double over, tears pricked his eyes as he collapsed onto the ground, all the air knocked out of him.

_What the actual fuck is happening right now? Is this actually happening right now? Fuck fuck fuck fuck…_

Lance gritted his teeth against another and then another kick, trying to get a hold of himself and focus.

“Gahkk!”

The barrage of kicks suddenly stopped, and was instead replaced with the blunt sound of fighting right above him. Fists pounding into flesh and steel with a _clang_ and _crunch._

_What’s going on? Are they fighting each other?_ Squinting through one eye, Lanced desperately tried to follow the blur of limbs, and was flooded with relief when he saw that a third stranger had pounced into the fray and was currently beating the ever-loving fuck out of the other two.

“Mmmf pfavvhdd (I’m saved)!” Lanced cried out.

It was all over impossibly fast. Not a moment after Lance had registered the fortunate change in events, the two would-be kidnappers were already lying unconscious on the ground, neatly handcuffed.

Lance started to sit up, wincing at the pain racking his body. _This is definitely going to bruise…_

Cla-clack.

_What._

Cold metal had suddenly bit into his wrist, and a firm grip on his upper arm hoisted him up rather viciously. Lance writhed around to get a good look at the mysterious party-crasher, only to do a double-take when recognition shot through his body. It was the guard from earlier.

“UMM?? What do you think you’re doing! Why the quiznak did you handcuff me?! I’m the victim here, weren’t you watching??”

…

…Was what Lance was trying to say, but since he still had that nasty gag in his mouth, his protests came out sounding something more like this:

“MMM mrrduhhhdeeggguuummmh! Mphh fiknaaguu gff eeev? Mmgahmim errr, wwrrdoomphingg??”

The guard let out an exasperated sigh and let Lance fall back down on his ass.

“Look, I don’t know who you are or what your deal is, but you’re definitely up to something. You’ve been acting suspicious all evening, and then you went sneaking off into the night like some criminal. So, until you can prove to me that you’re innocent, I’m afraid those handcuffs are going to be staying on.”

“Mff peeekgigyy”

“What?”

“Mff- MM-” the gag was ripped out of his mouth.

Lance huffed.

“… _I said,_ that’s pretty kinky.”

The guard glared down at him, face contorting to reveal a very _done_ expression.

“Okay, you know what? I don’t have the energy to deal with this today.” The guard (what was his name again, Kent? Keef?) reached forward with the gag in his hand.

“Wait wait! Please, okay? I swear to you I’m not a criminal! Although maybe I should be, considering my good looks are practically illegal…”

The other man raised his fist.

“OKAY sorry! Just, I wasn’t sneaking around or anything like that, I promise. I took a wrong turn somewhere and just got lost! Then those thugs suddenly grabbed me and well, you know the rest” He tried for a cautious smile. “So, since I’m clearly just an innocent victim in all this, how about you kindly remove these shackles and help me out, yeah?”

“Why the hell should I believe you, _Hunk_?” There was an unfair amount of venom added to that last word, in Lance’s opinion.

Lance searched the other’s steely gaze for any sign of cracking, but all he saw in those dark eyes was grim determination. _This guy isn’t going to budge…_

He dropped his head with a defeated sigh, then lifted his eyes once again to take on the stubborn guard.

“Listen- Keef, was it?”

“It’s _Keith”_

“Fine. Keith, buddy, I didn’t want to have to do this to you, but you’ve left me with no other choice. It’s true that I’m not who I said I was.” His voice took on a dramatic tone. “My true name is in fact, Lance. _Prince_ Lance. Of Altea. Son of King Alfor.” He waved his hands with a flourish.

“Pfft, uh-huh, and I’m the fucking princess. You think I’d be dumb enough to fall for that?”

“What? But it’s the truth! I command you to release me! Now!”

“And I command you to shut the fuck up already, or I’ll shove this back in your mouth,” he raised the stinking gag threateningly.

“I-but-no-wait-GAHH why won’t you listemmph!”

As promised, the gross rag was quickly shoved back into his mouth, effectively shutting him up. The stupid guard, _Keith_ , lifted Lance to his feet like it was nothing, and then proceeded to drag him down one of the darkened streets, grumbling under his breath.

Dread coursed through Lance’s veins as he came to terms with his hopeless situation.

_Fuck._

_I fucked up._

 

\---------------------------------------

\---------------------------------------

 

Keith wanted to die. Again. The moron he was currently leading back to the garrison would not shut up; the gag only managed to faintly muffle to his unending whines and groans.

“Mmmff pumvv mhimmeomm!”

“Rrreghhmm phunnmvf!”

“Gahhmroowwkah!”

“FOR THE LOVE OF QUIZNAK _WILL YOU CUT IT OUT?!”_ Keith spun around to shoot a murderous glare at the incessant man. He was met with an equally murderous glare.

“We’re almost there, so _please_ just hang on a little longer.”

Keith marched on, prisoner in tow. They had been walking for nearly half an hour now, and as they turned around the next street, the Garrison head-quarters finally came into view. It was a sight Keith never thought he’d be glad to see.

He tactfully opted to go in through the back door, hoping to avoid as many people as possible. The looks they got from civilians on their way here were bad enough, he needn’t some low-ranking officers giving him trouble too.

Navigating through the dimly lit corridors, Keith led his captive towards one of the holding cells situated in the back of the building.

 The Garrison was an umbrella term for all the different factions that enforced Altean law. There was the Royal Militia, the Galactic Air Force, and then the Peacekeepers, who were in charge of (yep you guessed it) keeping the peace throughout the everyday lives of civilians.

Of course, there were numerous sub-factions for each one, such as the Blades of Marmora, which is a special ops group stemming off of the Royal Militia. The building they were currently in just acted as an HQ for the capitol city; the main base, Garrison Academy, encompassed an entire moon which orbited around the planet Arus. Despite only being office space, this place still had a couple of holding cells- perfect for locking up suspects in a pinch.

As they approached said holding cells, a voice suddenly called out from behind, startling both Keith and his prisoner.

“Keith! What are you doing? You’re supposed to be on guard duty.”

Keith cringed inwardly at the all too familiar dad-tone.

“Uhhh, Shiro! I thought you were away on a mission?”

“We finished it up quicker than expected…” he trailed off, eyes moving to the ragged figure standing behind Keith.

“MmmMMppPHH!”

_Fuck._ Keith started to sweat.

“Umm, Keith? Do you mind telling me what’s going on here?”

“I’m just taking this suspect to a cell until further investigation can be done.”

“Suspect? What’d he do? And is it really necessary to gag him as well as cuff him?”

“Oh believe me, it’s very necessary,” Keith muttered.

_Almost in the clear, just gotta…_

His captive, who hadn’t stopped wriggling as soon as Shiro had shown up, finally wrenched himself out of Keith’s grip and flung himself at Shiro in desperation with garbled screams.

“Gah, what the-” Shiro jumped back to dodge the flailing man, then froze as he caught his arm and looked at him properly.

“Wait… _Prince Lance_?!”

Keith felt his stomach plummet. _That guy had been joking about being royalty… right?_

“Keith, what the hell are you doing?” Shiro quickly removed the gag and handcuffs.

The prince gasped for air as if he’d been suffocating, and Keith couldn’t help but role his eyes, despite Shiro’s harsh glare.

“Haaaa! Thank you Commander Shirogane! This guy is a fucking lunatic! I was almost kidnapped, and what does this asshole do? Arrests me! _Me_! Can you believe that?? And then he gagged me! If this is what passes for law enforcement around here, then I am _extremely_ disappointed.”

“Are you kidding me?” Keith couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Maybe if you hadn’t lied to an _officer of the law_ and acted all suspicious I wouldn’t have had to arrest you in the first place! Besides, you should be thanking me for saving your sorry ass from being kidnapped and sold into slavery!”

“Oh _I_ should be thanking _you_? Listen here you piece of-”

“Alright that’s enough!” Shiro interjected. He looked long and pointedly at Keith, before turning to Lance, the scolding look in his eyes not lessening a single iota as they fell to the Altean prince.

“Your Highness, do you have any idea how many people are out searching for you right now? Your family is worried sick- you’ve been missing for hours! Care to explain to me where you’ve been? And what’s all this about a kidnapping?”

“Well I got lost you see- it was pitch black! And then out of nowhere these two _hooligans_ cornered me and started saying crazy things like how they were going to sell my body parts or something and then they started beating me up! If they hadn’t caught me off guard, I totally could’ve taken them. Luckily though, this loser showed up and taught them a lesson, but then he went and _arrested me too.”_  Lance shifted his face at that last sentence to shoot daggers at Keith with an accusatory glare.

Keith huffed.

“Okayyy…” Shiro said, “But why were you wandering around the city in the first place? You’re not allowed to leave the palace grounds without an escort…”

“Oh, um, well you see- ahh haha…that’s a funny story, which I would be glad to share with you of course, but I’m afraid that information is strictly confidential. Yup. It’s need to know only. And you don’t really need to know haha, ha…” He laughed nervously.

Shiro did not look impressed. He raised a palm to face and sighed.

“Alright listen up, both of you are going to come with me.” His tone was as strict as it was completely deadened. Without another word, Shiro took off down a corridor; his face was hard and unreadable.

_This isn’t good._

Without much of a choice, Keith and Lance reluctantly followed after the large man, whilst maintaining a healthy distant between each other.

Keith was quickly lost in his thoughts, not paying any attention to where they were going as he ran through every possible worst-scenario in his head. For once, Lance was quiet too.

 When they finally came to a halt, Keith realized that they were standing in the middle of an empty holding cell… at least, he and the prince were. He quickly turned around just in time to see Shiro sliding the cell door shut, locking both of them inside. Panic and confusion tried to worm their way into Keith’s mind, but he forced himself to remain calm as he faced his friend, who was donning a rather frightening smile.

 The same couldn’t be said for his unfortunate companion however, as the prince immediately started to throw a fit.

“HEY! You can’t do this to me! I’m your Prince, you hear me? I command that you release me at once! You can leave the other guy here though, he definitely deserves it…but I don’t! I’ve done nothing wrong!”

“We’ll see about that, Your Highness; your reputation isn’t exactly one of innocence. Either way, if you’re in here I can be assured of your safety and location. I’m sure your father, the King, will be glad to hear that you’ve been found- in fact, I’ll go inform him right away.”

The prince blanched at that, eyes wide.

Keith took the momentary silence as an opportunity to get his own word in.

“Shiro…? What are you doing? Why am I in here too? Unlike _this guy,_ I actually haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Keith, if you really need me to explain to you how your actions were problematic, then we’re going to have a few more problems here.”

That shut him up.

“I’ll be back in a little bit, once I’ve figured out how to deal with this mess.” Turning away, Shiro stalked off, leaving Lance and Keith to stand there in disbelieving silence.

 Alone. With him. In a prison cell.

Yup. Keith was definitely going to die.

 

\---------------------------------------

\---------------------------------------

 

“Quiznak.” Lance cursed.

“This is not good this is not good this is literally the furthest thing away from being good!”

“…You mean, bad?” Keith offered sarcastically.

“Bad? _Bad??_ This is soooo much worse than bad, idiot! A hundred, no- a thousand times worse than bad! My father is going to kill me this time for real! Aw fuck, I’m in serious trouble; he’ll never let me outside the Castle of Lions ever again!”

“Well, it is what it is. Complaining about it isn’t going to change that fact, so just shut up already- you’re so annoying!”

“Excuse, me? _I’m_ the annoying one? And how dare you speak to me that way! I’m the freaking _Prince!_ ”

“I’ll speak to you however I damn well please, _Your Majesty_ ,” Keith jabbed.

Lance could not believe this. Not only was he _locked in a cell_ , but he also had to be imprisoned with the rudest, most unsociable imbecile he’d ever met. He shot an angry glance towards to the man in question, who was now sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed. Lance might almost think that he was meditating- if it weren’t for the intense scowl plastered across his face.

Lance took the opportunity to get a proper look at his cellmate. His long hair was silky and dark; it curled around the base of his neck, almost like… _no, is that a mullet?_ Lance cringed at the out-dated hairstyle. Surprisingly though, it seemed to suit him. His bangs fell around his face, framing his sharp jaw-line nicely. If he didn’t constantly look so constipated, Lance might even think he was attractive. An unwelcome memory of the man’s awkward smile when he’d bought him food earlier invaded Lance’s brain. _Nope, not even going to think about it_. He shook his head and glanced once again at the smaller, angrier man.

  _Keith_.

“Hey, Mullet.”

Whelp, that got his attention.

“Mullet?” Keith’s eyes flew open only to glare back up at him, clearly not impressed with the nickname, which only made Lance want to use it more.

“Yep, Mullet. That’s your name now. Anyways, how did you not recognize my face? I mean, I know I was in disguise and all, but still…”

“I don’t get out much.” He answered flatly.

“Ah riiight, right.” Unsure what else to say, Lance let the conversation die off. Mr. Grumpy pants closed his eyes again, and a heavy silence enveloped them.

An agonizing couple of minutes passed by. Then, much to his surprise, Keith was the one to speak next.

“What were you even doing, running around the city in a shitty disguise all by yourself?”

“Argh, it’s none of your quiznaking business!” Lance snapped back.

“Whatever, it’s not like I care anyway.”

…

Silence fell. A couple ticks went by before Lance gave in, exasperated.

“I just can’t stand being cooped up in the palace all the time!” He began. “I mean I get it, it’s for my own safety and whatnot, but geez! It feels like I’m suffocating in there! Don’t get me wrong, I love my family and all, but sometimes I just need to _live_ , you know? Go out and explore, listen to some music, flirt with cute shop attendants, dance with strangers under the streetlight!”

Keith didn’t say anything at first, and Lance began to worry that he had been rambling. Did he think he was annoying and childish now? Did he sound like an idiot?

“…I’ve never danced in my entire life,” Keith straight-faced.

It took Lance a moment to process the incredulous statement.

“Wait what? You’ve never danced? How??? Oh wait no never mind, I can totally see that, considering the fact that you have the personality of a rock. Seriously dude, you need to get a life.”

Keith opened his mouth to respond, when heavy footsteps suddenly echoed down the hall, quickly growing louder as they drew near.

Two figures appeared around the corner; they seemed to be having a pleasant conversation, their easy laughter drifted its way into the cell. Lance’s heart froze as he recognized the two people: one was Commander Shirogane returning as promised, and the other… was King Alfor, his father.

When their eyes met, his father’s jovial face quickly turned into one of intense displeasure, and Lance had to swallow back a bitter taste that rose in his throat.

“Lance.” The King went quiet for a few ticks.

“Lance, firstly, I’m glad you’re safe.” He then turned to Keith, who had at least remembered the decency to bow.

 “Lieutenant Kogane, correct? Thank you for saving for my son. He’s quite the handful as I’m sure you’ve discovered; there aren’t many that are capable of handling him so…efficiently. Commander Shirogane has filled me in on the details, as well as informed me of your, ah, situation.”

Confused, Lance glanced over at Keith as if he would find the answers there, but the man just looked slightly more anxious than before, staring intently at his own feet.

“After much discussion, the Commander and I have come to a most agreeable arrangement concerning the conditions of your probation. Keith Kogane, as of now you will act as the personal bodyguard of my son, Prince Lance. You will remain by his side 24/7 and ensure that he follows his royal duties to the letter.”

At this, Keith’s head shot up, anguish and shock clearly shining in his eyes. He didn’t dare say a word, but instead gave a curt nod of understanding.

Lance however, was not so easily accepting.

“WHAT?!” he shouted. “Father you can’t be serious! Please tell me you’re joking right now! I don’t need a fucking babysitter!”

“Watch your language, young man. And, until you can prove to me otherwise, I’d say that you do indeed require a babysitter. Lance, you’ve pulled a number of stupid stunts before, but this is by far the worst, most irresponsible thing you’ve ever done. From now on, Mr. Kogane will escort you wherever you go. He will not leave you unattended for any second of the day in order to secure your own safety and make sure you’re performing your duties as you should. I expect your full cooperation on this one, my son.”

Hot embarrassment flooded his cheeks. He couldn’t believe this. It was utterly ridiculous; surely his father knew that, right?

“For how long?” He choked out with as much dignity as he could manage.

“Until I’m convinced that you can act befitting of someone in your position and not need a constant guard!” The King let out a long sigh, his voice softening ever so slightly, “Lance, you do understand how much danger you put yourself in today, right? If anything had happened to you…I can’t bear to lose another member of my family.”

Lance’s stomach twisted up and knotted in guilt.

“You are very precious to me- I love you dearly Lance. So that’s why these measures are absolutely necessary; it’s for your own good.”

“Yes father,” Lance said quietly.

“Good. Now then, I’ll leave the rest to you, Commander Shirogane; I have duties I need to attend to.” With that, the King left, leaving the rest of them to stand there awkwardly as they waited for his footsteps to completely recede.

“Shiro, you can’t be serious about this, I-” Shiro cut Keith off with a stern frown and a wave of his hand.

“It’s been a long day for both of you. I’m sure you have many questions, and I’ll be glad to answer all of them later, but for now why don’t we head back to the Castle of Lions. A change of clothes and a hot meal will do you both some good.”

The commander unlocked the cell door and gestured for the two of them to exit.

Lance looked over at Keith, and was a little surprised to find him already staring up at him. The two shared a long glance that was a mix of _why did I have to get stuck with this fucker_ and _let’s just get this over with as painlessly as possible._

Lance quickly broke off the weirdly intimate gaze and, with an indignant huff, marched his way out of the cell.

_Quiznak, this was going to be hell._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew! now that that's out of the way, we can finally start getting to the good stuff ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)   
> I'll be completely done with school by the end of this week, so you can expect a new chapter sometime next weekend! Thanks for reading!
> 
> also just in case anyone was curious, Lance was about to be sold into sex slavery soooo ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't even know what i'm doing anymore...


	3. Oh Shit He’s Hot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is day 1 of their shared punishment ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S YA GURL PIDGE- alsooo, Olkari pidge?? yep i did that.

**CHAPTER THREE**

The trip back to the Castle of Lions was mercifully short. The air in their small transportation pod was filled to the brim with awkward silence for the entirety of the ride back, and had the commute been any longer Keith probably would’ve lost his mind. Luckily though the silence gave him a great opportunity to stew in the hot anger that had been gradually accumulating ever since he was informed of his new position.

The doors of their pod flew open with a _ding_ , signaling their arrival. Following Shiro and the prince, Keith stepped out into the main plaza of the palace grounds and took in the magnificent sight that lay before him.

Tall shining spires towered up above, coming together to form the castle that rested on the edge of a rocky cliff. A vast sea lay beyond, dark and shimmering in the moonlight. It was indeed an impressive sight.

With Shiro leading the way, Keith and Lance followed behind him, trudging up the steps and then through the main entryway.

Strangely enough, Keith had never actually been to the palace before, despite receiving numerous invitations as a member of the Blades to attend various banquets and functions. He’d always turned them down; he had better things to do with his time than prance around some stupid party giving lip service to everybody.  That was more up Shiro’s alley, although he probably didn’t think of it in the same attitude. As the Commander of the Blades of Marmora, he often worked out of the palace and had a pretty close relationship with all of the higher-ups. Keith figured though that the main reason he always seemed so eager to come here was because he’d get to see a certain magical space princess- it started with _A_ and ended with _llura_.

As if right on cue, said magical space princess was all but running down the main hall to meet them. Keith rolled his eyes at the way Shiro’s face lit up and a slight blush tinged the tips of his ears.

“Lance! Thank goodness we found you!” She quickly pulled her little brother into a tight hug, nearly squeezing the life out of him.

“Urgg- A-Allura, can’t-breathe-agh!”

Once she seemed satisfied that he was safe and sound, the princess quickly flipped the switch on her “loving and concerned” act and began to berate him.

“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused? I was so worried about you, what if something had happened?! Don’t you _dare_ do anything like this ever again, you hear me?” With that she affectionately punched him hard in the shoulder in a way only an older sister could.

“Ow! Okay okay, I’m sorry, geez! I’ve already experienced enough violence tonight- I don’t need any more from you too!”

With one final glare in her brother’s direction, Princess Allura morphed her face at the speed of light into a cute and pleasant smile as she went to address Shiro. _I guess impossibly fast mood changes run in the family._

“I cannot thank you enough Commander for bringing him back to us safe and sound, I apologize again on my brother’s behalf for the all the trouble he’s caused tonight.”

“Thank you Princess, but actually it was my subordinate here who found Prince Lance and saved his Royal Highness from would-be kidnappers.”

Her warm gaze drifted over to Keith; he instinctually straightened his posture and tried to look as responsible and trustworthy as possible.

“Ah right, you must be the one then…Mr. Kogane?” She smiled. “My father told about me about what has transpired, and that you are now to accompany Lance wherever he goes,” she giggled under her breath with that last part. Clearly the princess found this entire situation amusing more than anything else. Keith groaned internally.

In that moment, it appeared to Keith that she and Shiro seemed to share some secret conversation using only their eyes, and Keith had the sudden thought that if they ever became an actual couple that they’d be a seriously fearsome duo.

With another sly smile- weird eye-conversation apparently resolved- Princess Allura not-so-gently grabbed Lance’s arm and began to drag him off down the long corridor, calling over her shoulder,

“I’ll let you have a few minutes of peace and quiet, Mr. Kogane, before you have to get to work. Prince Lance and I will be waiting for you in the dining hall, come when you’re ready!”

The sounds of healthy sibling bickering followed them for a few ticks as they disappeared down a corner, leaving Keith and Shiro to stand there in uncomfortable silence.

Keith _absolutely refused_ to say something first. He was furious. _Livid._

Did he bring this upon himself? Yes.

Did he deserve this punishment, and then some? Also probably yes…

Was he going to be happy about it and go quietly? _Definitely not._

Keith could feel Shiro’s eyes on him, waiting- but Keith stubbornly fixed his gaze to the wall.

“Keith.”

 _Damn these walls were really fucking clean, practically sparkling. Do they have servants who come and polish up every square inch of this place? Sucks to be them.._.

_“Keith.”_

_Fuck this._ Keith begrudgingly turned to face Shiro. The older Altean looked just as tired as Keith felt. The elegant purple markings under his eyes helped to distract onlookers from noticing the bags that were starting to form, but not by much. He knew Shiro was honestly just trying his best to deal with yet another sticky situation that Keith had somehow gotten himself thrown into; Keith had no right to blame him for any of this. He softened up the hard expression on his face, if only a little.

“This will be good for you, I know it. Keith, you’re an amazing pilot and a skilled fighter, but you still have so much more room to grow- so much unlocked potential. Your new assignment is going to be unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before, so be grateful for this chance and try to learn as much as you can from it; I firmly believe that you’ll come out of this as an even more valuable member of the Blades as well as a stronger individual. And hey, at least you’re not stuck with guard duty,” he tried for a joke.

“I think I’d almost prefer that at this point. I mean, have you met the guy? He’s completely ridiculous!”

Shiro offered him a smirk, “He is the prince though, so don’t be rude. Look, I’m not asking you to be friends with him.”

“No, I just have to spend every waking minute with him,” he huffed back.

Now it was Shiro’s turn to role his eyes at Keith. They held each other’s gaze for a long moment, and all their shared years of friendship and brotherhood seemed to be reflected and amplified in it.

“Trust me, okay?”

The pent up rage that had been consuming his chest ever since this whole affair had started all but dissipated as he looked up at those puppy-dog eyes; no matter how much he didn’t want to, Keith couldn’t help but relent.

“Okay,” he breathed out heavily, “…and Shiro, I’m sorry.”

…

Shiro gave him the most shit-eating grin he’d ever seen.

“Hi sorry, I’m dad.”

“Oh my fu- okay you know what, I fucking hate you. I’m leaving. Goodbye. Don’t speak to me ever again.”

“Love you tooooo, I’ll come by to check on you as often as I can!” Shiro sing-songed after him as Keith aggressively turned on his heels and marched off in the direction of what he hoped was the dining hall, flipping Shiro the finger over his shoulder.

As Keith navigated his way through the glowing castle corridors, his mood couldn’t help but brighten a little. As much as they liked to joke about it, Shiro really truly was like a dad to him…or maybe a weird older brother.

Many had been affected after the destruction of Daibazaal, the Galran home-world, and Keith was included in that list: he became an orphan at the age of 10, and was forced to live on the streets. Even though it was only for six months, it was still one of the darkest periods of his life… and then Shiro had found him and took him in. Keith will never forget the day when some teenager with a weird-ass haircut offered to cook him a meal after having just caught Keith trying to steal some vegetables out of his family’s garden. Even though the food was total shit and burnt to fuck (Shiro honestly can’t cook a decent meal to save his life), it was the kindest thing anyone had ever done for him, and Keith had instantly become attached.

The poor guy had a wide-eyed, Keith-shaped shadow tailing him wherever he went for years.

The corner of his mouth twitched up into a smile at the fond but thoroughly embarrassing memory.

_Damn, I wish I could go back to those times- when everything was simple and straight forward and the only thing I needed to worry about was how mad Shiro would be when I inevitably broke my curfew._

A whining voice trailed out of the doorway Keith was currently approaching.

“And then he was all ‘ _you’re under arrest’_ , and as if handcuffs weren’t enough, he gagged me! An actual fucking gag! Can you believe that?!”

_No seriously,  could someone please for the love of quiznak invent a time machine so I can go to literally any other place than the one I’m stuck in right here and now._

He gritted his teeth and stepped inside.

The princess was doubled over in a fit of hysteria, clutching her stomach as she howled with laughter.

“You think this is funny?! I could’ve died!”

“Stop over-exaggerating.” Keith butted in with a lifeless voice.

Lance whipped his head around so fast Keith was surprised (and a little disappointed) that his neck didn’t snap from the sheer momentum.

“Excuuuse me?? Do you have _any_ idea of-”

“Ahem.” The princess, having been allowed the brief moment to recover, cleared her throat as she gracefully wiped away some remaining tears, promptly shutting the bickering duo up.

“Thank you Mr. Kogane for joining us. I don’t how much Commander Shiro has told you already, but I’ll give you the run down just in case. Your job is to accompany my brother, Prince Lance, throughout his daily routine and make sure that he sticks to it. I’ll give a copy of his schedule in a moment.  Also, I’ve been informed that your possessions shall be arriving sometime within the next few days. In order to assure his utmost safety,” she looked pointedly at the prince, “you will be staying in the adjoining room directly off of Lance’s bedroom-”

“WHAT? Sis no, that’s going too far! How the quiznak do you expect me to sleep peacefully with that asshole only a door away?!”

For once, Keith actually agreed with him.

“Would you prefer to share a room instead? Because that can still be arranged…”

“NO! No, absolutely not-”

“Great, fantastic! I’m glad we cleared that up!” She shot both of them a deadly cold smile, so unnerving that it almost caused shiver’s to run down Keith’s spine.

“Now then, it’s quarter to two in the morning, so I’m going to bed. I suggest you two do the same, I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a long day!” With that final remark, Princess Allura waltzed right past them and straight out of the dining hall, her chin held high and her blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

The quiet that had suddenly engulfed the large dining hall was absolutely deafening; Keith (unfortunately) could hear his own heart beat drumming away in his ears.

He looked up at the taller boy (a fact which secretly annoyed him), and tried to read the expression that was splayed across his face. It seemed to be in a very confused state, struggling between raw frustration, panic, and absolute dread. The prince glanced his way, blue eyes wide and uncertain.

_He wants this just as much as I do. Which is to say not at all._

“I guess this our life now?” The young prince tried for a reassuring smile, but it came out more like a constipated grimace.

“Tch, yeah, I guess it is,” Keith monotoned, “Let’s just get this over with, douche-bag.”

“Douche-bag?? Umm, you can’t address me like that?! I’m royalty! A Prince! You should be kneeling before me; worshipping the ground I walk on!”

“What are you going to do about it, dumbass, throw me in the dungeon? I think I’d actually prefer that, to be honest.”

“Wha-hu-pwa…OKAY you know what from now on you will address me as Sir or Your Highness, and that’s an order!”

“Yeah yeah whatever, lead the way… _Your Highness,”_ Keith’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Lead the way where? Do I look like a tour guide to you?”

“Well how else am I suppose to find my room, or any room for that matter- I don’t fucking live here!”

“You-just-garhh fine! I guess I _will_ lead the way. Follow me, _Mullet.”_

“Oh so you’re allowed to call _me_ names, but I can’t do the same to you?”

“It’s called privilege, pretty boy.” Lance cocked his head over his shoulder as he began to stride towards the doors.

 _Pretty boy?_  Keith frowned, but followed the prince out anyways.

The castle was huge- Keith could already tell that he was going to get hopelessly lost in this place. They wandered through a maze of large corridors for nearly 15 minutes in exhausted silence…well, almost silence: Lance had kept up and an unending stream of grumbling and muttering ever since they left the dining hall.

_Does this guy ever shut up?_

Finally, they arrived at their destination: a grand, ornate sliding door. Keith stepped inside right behind Lance and couldn’t help but raise his brow at the extravagant sight. A king-sized (or prince-sized, whatever) bed, which was laced delicately with a gauzy canopy, held the central focus for the royal bedroom. Next to that, long billowing curtains led out onto the spacious balcony. The room was filled with an assortment of plush furnishings and high-tech decorations, Keith even spotted a laser harp resting in the corner.

Prince Lance gestured to his left to where another, smaller, doorway led.

“And there you go Mullet, that room’s all yours.”

Lance then proceeded to flop with a dramatic sigh back onto his bed, kicking off his shoes as he closed his eyes.

“I’m going to bed now, so don’t bother me.”

All conversation clearly finished for tonight, Keith gladly crossed over to the other door and breathed out in relief as it slid closed behind him. _Finally alone._ This room was smaller than the one he had just come from, but it was still considerably more spacious than the cramped quarters he had been living in at one of the Blades of Marmora bases. A neatly made twin bed was tucked into the corner, and upon spotting it, Keith immediately made a beeline for the promise of soft sheets and warm blankets.

After such an emotionally and physically tolling night, Keith could barely process anything as he climbed into the sweet embrace of the silky covers; the only coherent thought he was even remotely capable of forming at this point was just _sleep, sleep, sleeeeeep._

As he drifted off, Keith could’ve sworn he heard faint snoring permeating his walls and his mind from the other room.

_What the hell? How can someone snore that daintily?_

 

\---------------------------------------

\---------------------------------------

DAY 1

Something strange and… pointy (?) was poking into Lance’s cheek. _What the fuck?_ The unidentified object continued jabbing his face, forcing Lance to wrench off his sleeping mask and search for the source of whatever the heck _dared_ to wake him from his beauty sleep.

As he opened his bleary eyes, he was met with none other than Mr. Mullet himself, as well as his very much unwelcome finger stabbing into his face, which Lance promptly swatted away.

“Rise and shine bitch.”

“The fuck? What time is it? And didn’t we talk about the whole name-calling thing last night?”

“Oh I’m sorry, does _Sir Bitch_ work better for you? And it’s already 7am, you should be glad I let you sleep in this late.”

Ignoring that first comment, because _no, it does not work better for me thank you very much,_ Lance cried out in protest:

“It’s only 7 o’clock in the freaking morning? That’s like… well, like 7 in the morning, which is WAY too early for anybody to be doing anything! Except sleeping! Which is exactly what I’ll be doing now, so goodnight!”

He quickly burrowed his face beneath the cozy blanket and tightly shut his eyes. _Please leave me alone please leave me alone please leave me alone._

A rush of cold air suddenly assaulted him as his nice, beautiful, warm blanket was ripped away from his body with largely unnecessary violence, leaving Lance utterly defenseless against the elements as well as his new bodyguard’s harsh glare.

“Listen, I’m just following the schedule that your sister gave me, and on here it says that you have Linguistic studies at 8am, so excuse me for being considerate and giving you time to get ready.” The other had the audacity to role his eyes.

“Quiznak! I only have an hour? Shit shit shit…” Lance sprung out of bed and leapt across the room, landing in his dressing table chair with well-practiced accuracy, and began frantically rummaging among the many jars and bottles that held all of his precious ointments and skincare products.

“Why didn’t you wake me up sooner? Geez…” he muttered as he ran a comb through his bed-mussed hair. Shifting his gaze in the mirror’s reflection, Lance looked back just in time to see Keith scrunching up his face in disbelief.

[[this is his face. that one pic of lin beifong. you know the one]]

 

59 minutes and 17 seconds later, Lance was sufficiently pampered, buffed, and ready to face the day. Lance took one final appreciative look at himself in the mirror; he was draped in delicate layers of soft pink fabric which hung just off his shoulders and was securely fastened by a thin gold belt which wound round his lean waist. To top it off, he was wearing a set of minimalist gold earrings with a matching ear cuff. The whole ensemble was finally made perfect with his elegantly coiffed white hair.

Giving himself a flirtatious ‘wink and finger gun’ combo in the mirror, Lance confidently strode out of the room to where his bodyguard was waiting for him. The other man looked a little uncomfortable to be wearing the clothes that had been supplied for him, which was a simple shirt and pants set in a deep burgundy colour. Lance’s heart had a minor malfunction when the two made very brief eye contact before heading out into the rest of the castle.

 _Damn. Those clothes fit him_ very _nicely. Very, very nicely_.

Ignoring whatever the heck that thought was, Lance shook his head and led the way through the maze of corridors towards his morning lessons.

After studying foreign languages for two hours, Lance had to observe a diplomatic meeting with his father, and then after that he was stuck helping Coran, King Alfor’s top advisor, perform the monthly cryo-pod inspection.

 All the while, Keith was closely tailing him: standing behind him awkwardly, rudely herding him towards his next appointment, and groaning every time Lance tried to make a joke. _C’mon, I’m hilarious! That boy has got a stick up his ass, honestly._ Lance had discovered that annoying Keith was his new favourite past-time, and he had made it his divine calling in life to get that stupid mullet-brain to smile, or better yet to laugh.

“Gaaargh! Thank goodness it’s lunch time! Next time Coran won’t stop talking about his ‘golden days’ feel free to just fling me into the nearest wormhole!”

“Considering the fact that the nearest wormhole is thousands of light years away I’m afraid that that would be impossible.”

“Argh! You know what? I’ll stick _you_ in a wormhole!”

Keith snapped and turned to face him, anger flashing in his eyes and looking like he was ready to throw down, but luckily for both of them (mostly Lance) a well-known, sarcastic voice broke into the fray.

“Well well, look what the cat dragged in. Still being an idiot I see, _Lance_.”

“Pidge! My savior! You came just in time! Quick, tell a joke!”

“Look in the mirror,” she deadpanned.

At that, Keith snickered. Lance shot him a glare. _Of course he laughed at that, the little fucker._

“Haha, very funny _tree brain._ Anyways, what are you even doing here? I thought you were back home on Olkarion for your break.”

“Well I was, but then Matt ditched me for some new research assignment so then there was no reason for me to stay there. I figured I would just come back here and continue working on my joint quantum physics study with the other Altean researchers.”

“What? Who would have the nerve, the audacity, to ditch you? He’s a total scumbag!”

“Heh,” her mouth split into an evil smirk, “I’ll tell him you said that.”

“Please do. Also tell him that if he thinks he’s going to beat me the next we play Gravity Ball that he is dead wrong. I’ve been training.” Lance stated with mock threat.

“Pfft you’re such a loser Lance.” She then sent a knowing glance over to Keith, “And who might this be?” she wiggled her eyebrows.

Lance wasn’t exactly sure what that look was supposed to mean, but he figured that that was probably for the best. _Scheming little gremlin._

“This here is Keith, also known as ‘Mullet’ or ‘Giant-ass Grump’; he’s my new bodyguard as punishment for sneaking out.”

“Oh so you noticed his ass…interesting,” she smirked.

“Wha-NO I DID NOT THANK YOU VERY MUCH!” Lance could feel the sudden blush burning into his cheeks. _He most definitely had NOT checked out Keith’s ass, and he most definitely did NOT think that it was a very attractive ass indeed._

“Uh huhhhhh, whatever. If he gives you any problems Keith, just gag him.”

“Been there done that,’’ Keith said with an evil smirk of his own, “works like a charm.”

“You know what? I like you; high-five!” She laughed, and he complied.

Lance groaned loudly and pounded his fist against the nearest wall. The last thing he needed was the two of them gaining up on him. _A child-prodigy and a top-class warrior, now that’d be a duo to stay far the hell away from._

“Ha okay bonding time is over guys, I’ve got important shit to do.” Lance tried to steer the conversation away from the newly forming friendship, which he just knew was going to be bad news for him.

“You’re going for lunch,” Keith narrowed his eyes at him.

“Exactly! That’s like, the most important part of the day!”

“Now you’re sounding like Hunk,” Pidge laughed at him. “Anyways, it’s been a pleasure boys, but I have _actual_ important shit to do, so toodles!” She gave them a haughty wave and then pranced off back to her research lab.

Lance stuck his tongue out after her. He then turned to Keith, who he noticed had a little more colour in his cheeks than normal.

“Soooo…what was that about my ass again?”

Lance’s face lit up in a vibrant magenta once again as he was forced to recall the conversation from just moments ago.

“Oh just shut your quiznak!” He quickly turned around in an attempt to hide his burning cheeks, and stormed off down the hall.

 

\---------------------------------------

\---------------------------------------

 

 

The rest of their day continued on in a similar fashion. Lance would say something obnoxious, Keith would come _very close_ to strangling him, and then the two of them would bicker until someone else would butt in. It was honestly exhausting; Keith wished that the two of them could just get along, but it seemed to him like Lance _purposefully_ went out of his way just to annoy him. That stupid prince had an incredible knack for pushing all of Keith’s buttons- and he meant _all_ of them. As if things weren’t bad enough already, Prince Lance just _had_ to be one of the most physically appealing persons Keith had ever encountered. Everything from those tanned, chiseled facial features to the gentle curve of his hips to his long, muscular legs: it was all too damn much! Too bad he had such an aggravating personality, or Keith might’ve been at risk of _feelings_.

They had just finished up at Lance’s last appointment for the day- a fitting for some new robes- and, having already eaten dinner earlier in the evening, the two were finally heading back to their room. Even though Keith was used to long days of training and missions, today was truly exhausting. Despite being a cocky idiot, Keith had to hand it to him: the prince was not lacking in spirit. Running around from lesson to lesson and constantly having to be on picture perfect behavior as you met with countless dignitaries and ambassadors really took a lot of mental stamina. Keith had always hated that kind of environment; it was why he was almost expelled from the garrison. After spending the day with him as his shadow, Keith had begun to understand why Lance had run off on his own the other night; he was just surprised that the young prince hadn’t tried to sooner, because Keith definitely would have.

As they entered the bedroom, he turned to the prince.

“Hey, where do I go to get a shower?”

Prince Lance stared at him, confused… then his eyes widened and his face paled ever so slightly.

“Uhhhh. Fuck. Um, we have to share the bathroom, I guess…”

“Fantastic. I call dibs.”

“Wait! You can’t do that! I get to go first- ARRGGH KEEEITH!!” the prince was cut off abruptly by the bathroom door slamming shut in his face.

Sighing, Keith closed his eyes and leaned back on the door. It felt so freaking good to be alone after the day he’s had. He quickly got into the hot shower and allowed himself to relax beneath the comforting spray of water; he let his mind take a break and didn’t even try to process anything that had happened today. Numbly scrubbing himself free of grime, Keith took his sweet time in the shower, savouring every single tick that he didn’t have to spend glued to that pompous asshole.

At last, Keith stepped out of the shower’s warm embrace and prepared himself to face the surely hostile entity that was awaiting him beyond the bathroom door.

_Fuck._

Keith, in his rush to hog the bathroom, hadn’t thought to grab a change of clothes. Obviously he couldn’t wear the ones that he came in here with, then that would defeat the purpose of having a shower in the first place. Glancing around, Keith thankfully spotted some extremely luxurious-looking towels; he wrapped one snugly around his waist.

_This’ll do I guess._

He opened the door and took a step out into the bedroom. Lance was at his dressing table, his back turned to him; he was humming cutely to himself as he sat there in front of the mirror, wearing a midnight blue silk robe that was adorned with gold embroidery.

At the _whoosh_ of the door sliding open, Lance instinctively turned around to look his way… only to immediately choke when his eyes registered Keith’s body standing there.

“What? I didn’t bring any clothes with me.” Keith hated the way he suddenly felt self-conscious underneath the other’s rather… _intense_ gaze.

“Uh, yeah, that’s fine, sorry, no problem here no sir-y!”

 It was hard to tell because of the weird green stuff smeared all over his face, but Keith could’ve that sworn he saw a small blush spread across Lance’s face as he was struggling to stutter back a semi-coherent response.

“Righhhtt. What’s with the weird face goo?”

“ _Goo_? I’ll have you know that this face-mask is made up of a delicate blend of rare minerals taken from all quadrants of the universe!”

“Okaaay but why is it on your face?”

“Are joking with me right now? Are you trying to pull my leg?”

“??... I’m not even touching you, what the hell?”

“Oh for the love of- okay you’re seriously a fucking idiot. I’m wearing a FACE-MASK because BASIC SKIN CARE is an essential and vital part of maintain one’s own physical and mental health, which is what NORMAL people do in this modern day and age; not that that’s something I would expect you to understand because your intelligence level seems to have devolved to that of a COMMON ROCK!!”

…Keith honestly didn’t know how to respond to the sudden outburst. He knew that he should probably be offended, having just been told that he has the same intelligence level as a rock. And not even one of the cooler, edgier rocks at that. No, he was a _common_ rock. But Keith was too worn out by now and really couldn’t be bothered to pick a fight with the young prince, so he decided on taking the safer and much calmer route.

 “…Why does it have to be green though?”

Keith could almost hear Lance’s mind snap in two.

The prince dropped his head to his lap with a groan and took a deep breath. Keith was just about to walk away from the unpleasant situation, when:

“Hahhhhh, I’m sorry,” Lance sighed. “I shouldn’t have yelled like that, or called you a rock- even though are pretty dumb sometimes. I’m just tired and overwhelmed, so I overreacted.”

Keith blinked. _Wait, is he…apologizing to me?_

“Uh, no, it’s fine Lance- I kinda deserved it.”

Lance’s eyes perked up a bit at that, “Yeaaaah, you kinda did,” he smirked. “And what’s with the ‘ _Lance’_ all of a sudden? I mean, it’s better than ‘douchebag’ or ‘asshole’, but shouldn’t you be calling me _Your Highness_ or _My Prince_ or something?” he raised a mocking brow.

“Pfft, yeah right. You’ll have to get on your knees and beg if you want that.”

Their bickering had taken on a much softer tone- it was almost, dare he say… _friendly_? Both of them were biting away amused smiles as they stared at each other under the warm glow of the lamplight and…

…and simultaneously realizing exactly how this looked and how strange the atmosphere had suddenly gotten and _oh quiznak Keith was just standing there in a towel still._

Heat flooded his face and Keith quickly spat out an awkward laugh as he began to back his way over to the door leading to his room.

“Haha, um, anyways, goodnight, I guess. S-see you in the morning!” Keith quickly pivoted around on the balls of his feet and made a break for the door.

“Uh y-yeah, see you!”

The door slid shut behind Keith and he breathed out a quiet “ _fuck”_.

 _What even was that?_ Keith didn’t know, and frankly he didn’t want to. He yanked on some pajamas and hopped into the safety of his bed sheets.

As he closed his eyes, Keith couldn’t stop all the thoughts from pouring into and swarming around his mind. A lot had happened today. He had met Pidge (a totally cool badass in Keith’s professional opinion), and had only had to physically restrain Lance once when the prince had tried to skip out on his geography lesson (which Keith kind of wished he had allowed because that shit was boring as quiznak).

If that last conversation with the prince proved anything, it was that the two of them were definitely capable of getting along- Keith just hoped that they could continue doing so, it sure would make his job a whole lot easier.

 _But what was with that leg-pulling thing? Why would I pull on his legs? I mean, he definitely has nice legs and all, but why would I pull on them?_ Letting out a frustrated sigh into his pillow, Keith shook his head. He’ll just have to ask Lance about it some other day.

In the meantime, Keith desperately needed to get some sleep; tomorrow was undoubtedly going to be yet another hectic day of lessons and meetings- just thinking about it was exhausting.

_One day down, an eternity left to go._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY! we made it! first of all, i apologize for the dad joke lol. there's more where that came from so stay tuned  
> -this is the laser harp thingy i was talking about, it's going to make a very special appeaance in upcoming chapters!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtRdlgq0oR0&t=125s  
> -and aaaaaa i dont know what else to write here so thank you so much reading, let me know what you guys think! <3


	4. Let’s play hookey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the best way to bond is by skipping out on classes
> 
> Also: eyyooo it’s Hunk!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow. can we all just pretend i didn’t take like a year and 4 new seasons of Voltron to be released before I updated this fic? Anyways sup. I’m back. I’m here. I haven’t abandoned this. 
> 
> So s8 happened? Or not, i’m pretending like it doesn’t exist. Klance is and forever will be canon king, and right now I just need to write them some cute fluff to fill the gaping void of existence after everything that (didn’t) happened

CHAPTER 4

It had been two weeks already. Two long, painstaking, horrible weeks.  
… Okay, so maybe Lance was exaggerating a little. Him and Keith had actually started to get along after that first night…alright so getting along is quite a generous way of putting it, he thought to himself. By ‘getting along’, Lance meant that they had both come to accept that this was the reality that they were now living in, so it was fruitless to be constantly fighting one another. That didn’t mean that they had stopped bickering altogether though, oh no- that was still going strong. But if Lance looked really hard, like really really hard, he could just barely spot the small traces of affection behind every jab and insult. It wasn’t much at first, but their relationship had  
been growing bit by bit- and now Lance had become confident that maybe, just maybe, they could actually become friends.

Sure, Keith was a little…rough around the edges, but Lance just knew that underneath all that moody doom and gloom was a soft-hearted and caring guy that was so socially awkward it was actually kind of cute. And how did he know this to be true? Ever since that weird encounter on their first official day together- the towel incident, as Lance had started calling it- he just couldn’t get Keith’s soft little smile out of his head. He had only glimpsed it for a moment, but it was pure and  
genuine and filled with kindness; Lance had upgraded his life’s divine calling from making that boy laugh to making him smile that sweet fucking angelic smile again.

In the past two weeks, he hadn’t even come close. 

Another thing that was totally disappointing was the fact that since the aforementioned “towel incident” Keith hasn’t once forgotten to bring a change of clothes with him to the shower which means Lance has been deprived from seeing those glistening, chiseled abs and h-

WHACK!

“OW! QUIZNAK what is wrong with you?”

“You zoned out, and then started grinning like a drunken idiot, it was creeping me out!” Keith argued back at him as he sat back down across the table.

“What the? So I’m not even allowed to smile?” Lance rubbed the back of his head where he had been smacked.

“Not right now you aren’t, you’re supposed to be studying remember?”

“Grrgaaah I wanna do something funnnnnnn,” he whined and keeled over the table, partially to convey his exhaustion and partially to hide his face (and his blush) as he tried to process just what the fuck exactly that trail of thought was from just moments before.

ERROR! ERROR! Red lights and warning sounds went off in his head. CANNOT COMPUTE! DENIAL MODE FULLY ENGAGED! ABORT THOUGHTS! ABORT THOUGHTS! ABOR-

“Dude, banging your head against the table isn’t going to solve the problem.”

Lance sighed in defeat.

“Okay well what will solve the problem then?”

When Keith didn’t answer him after a couple of tics, Lance looked up with questioning brows. Keith was staring at him intently, and even though his face was entirely void of expression, Lance could tell by the fire in his eyes that he was in the middle of a heated internal struggle; one that seemed to really be chewing him up.

With an exasperated exhale, Keith closed his eyes and spoke up.

“Fine. One hour. That’s all I’m giving you. And no one can find out about this, you’re supposed to be studying, understand?”

Lance leapt to his feet, grinning from ear to ear as he mock saluted the other boy.

“Yes-sir!”

“Uh huh,” Keith rolled his eyes. “Now then, where are we off too?”

“Hmmpf! I know just the place!” Lance said with a devilish smirk.

\---------------------------------------  
\---------------------------------------

“…target practice?”

“Yup! Archery is my second favourite hobby; I’m quite the marksman, I’ll have you know.”

“Sure sure, and what’s your first favourite hobby?”

“Heh, that’s a secret for another day.”

Keith watched as Lance picked out a bow from one of the racks and set to preparing some arrows. His movements were quick and deft; years of skill and practice were evidently shown by the way his long, nimble fingers flew over the weapon. In one fluid arc, the prince raised and drew the bow taught, taking barely a second to aim his shot before he let the arrow fly from his hands.

A perfect bull’s-eye.

At the sharp thud of the arrow’s impact Keith felt…something…inside him stir. He wasn’t sure whether to be impressed, intimidated, or turned on. The only thought that seemed to ring loud and clear inside his head was damn that’s hot.

…wait no, stop. Bad thoughts, bad Keith.

“Ha! What’d I tell ya, eh? I’m a sharpshooter through and through.”

“Pfft, alright alright, so you don’t totally suck at this.”

“Woah there buddy, that was dangerously close to sounding like a compliment, haha. Okay now it’s your turn.” Lance flashed him a cocky smile as he held the bow out to him.

“Oh no,” Keith raised his palms outward, “I only do swords, sorry.”

“What? Stop being ridiculous! It sounds to me like you’re just afraid you can’t match up to my mad skills,” he wiggled his brows, the challenge clearly set in his eyes.

Keith sighed, “You’re right, I can’t- I’ve never shot a bow before, I don’t even know how.”

Lance’s eyes bugged so wide in shock, Keith was afraid that they might pop right out of his skull.

Thankfully they didn’t though.

“I can’t believe this! The great Keith Kogane has never shot a bow? There’s something fundamentally wrong with this picture, and we’re going to fix it!” His words were practically glowing with conviction, but it did nothing to inspire any ounce of enthusiasm in Keith.

“No really, I’m fine Lance, you don’t need to-”

“Oh shut up and get over here already,” Lance grabbed his hand and dragged him closer. Lance handed him the bow and an arrow, which Keith took awkwardly.

“Lance c’mon…”

“Nuh-uh, you are doing this, your prince commands you.”

Keith rolled his eyes and relented.

“Fine. What do I do?”

“Okay okay, so spread your legs like this…” All of sudden Lance came up behind him and placed his hands gently on Keith, guiding his stance. Keith could feel the prince’s warm breath tickling his cheek as he gave instructions.

“Make sure to keep your back straight and shoulders back- then raise your elbow up like this as you draw the bow…”

His hands were on him, touching him, guiding his arms into position as his body pressed closer in against Keith.

Well this is…intimate.

“Uh-aha,” a nervous chuckle, “I guess it is- it’s almost over though so don’t worry.”

What the? Can he read my mind? Keith abruptly turned his head in the direction of the soft voice only to discover that its owner was literally right there. Like, 2 inches away right there- hovering right over his shoulder. Their eyes met (and nearly their lips too), and time seemed to slow down for a second, allowing Keith to take in the beautiful sight that was so freaking close.

Brilliant deep blue eyes stared back at him, shining and sparkling in the warm afternoon light. Keith’s gaze drifted a little lower- burning the image of all the little freckles that dusted his cheeks into his mind’s eye. Keith noticed that the air was suddenly hot and thick, making his head spin a little and any and all coherent thoughts completely unravel. What the hell is this…?

And then time decided to start moving again.

Both boys were very quick to laugh (which sounded more like distressed choking than anything else) and broke off eye contact with each other, turning once again to face towards the target.

That was weird. I feel weird. Why is my heart pounding? Did I contract a weird alien virus? I’m kinda dizzy too, maybe I should go see a doctor? Nah, I’ll just ask Shiro about it later…

Lance cleared his throat, “A-anyways, just hold this position, nice and sturdy, and take aim. When you’re ready to shoot, just gently release your fingers and BAM!”

“Bam?”

“Yup, BAM!”

He took a deep breath to clear his head, and carefully aimed at the target. As he exhaled, he released the drawstring and sent the arrow zipping through the air and sure enough…

BAM!

…except his arrow didn’t even come close to hitting the mark. Sure, it wasn’t the worst shot; at least he hit the target…barely.

Lance hollered in excitement and let go of him, which Keith was more than grateful for.

“Woo! Hey hey, not bad for a first-timer. ‘Course, you could never hope to reach my level of expertise, but still- that shot wasn’t completely terrible.”

“Gee, thanks.” Keith found himself a little caught off guard by all the adrenaline pumping through his body. How could firing off one arrow be so exhilarating? It wasn’t even that amazing, yet Keith couldn’t stop the grin from growing on his face as he turned to Lance. “Hehe, high-five buddy!” Lance raised his hand expectantly. Too caught up in the moment to put up a fight, Keith eagerly complied; the palms of their hands connected in a burst of energy that he could feel resounding in every cell of his body.

The contact lasted for only a split second longer than usual high fives tend to take, but it was enough to be noticeable to both parties, who awkwardly stood there afterwards, unsure of how to break the unfamiliar tension.

Luckily they didn’t have to.

“A-HEM. Hmm.” The over-exaggerated sound of someone clearing their throat was enough to completely shatter the weird moment. Both boys quickly looked around to discover the identity of their unexpected savior.

“Am I um, interrupting anything? Should I come back later? Give you two a moment, uh, alone?”

The voice belonged to a man Keith didn’t recognize: he was quite large, and taller than both of them. His skin was a deep bronze, making the vibrant yellow markings on his face pop out and gleam like sunshine. Despite his built frame and intimidating size, Keith could tell just with one look that this guy had a heart of gold.

“Hunk!” Lance jumped in surprise and ran to meet his friend, practically leaping into his arms to be swallowed up by a giant hug.

“Hahaha, what are you doing here? I thought you weren’t going to be back for another month?”

“Aw well, technically I’m here on official business, but I figured I could spare my best friend some time.” The pair released their hug and continued to catch up for a few minutes, laughing and joking around as they shared stories of their time apart.

As Keith watched the happy display of affection, the feeling of warmth that had been burning inside him just a moment before suddenly faded all too quickly, and was replaced by a familiar dull ache. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to, but for some reason the sting of loneliness was a little more tangible than normal. He had never made friends before- didn’t even really know how- and, aside from Shiro, he had never felt any sort of closeness or attachment to another person that other’s  
seemed to have as if it was the easiest thing in the world. And even with Shiro, their relationship was more similar to that of a parent and child than anything else; Keith felt he could never truly relax and let his guard down around him.

Ugh why are you thinking about this now? Shut up shut up shut up…

“Sooooo uh, who’s your friend?”

“OH! Right, of course! Hunk, this is Keith- Keith, meet Hunk.” Keith was forced out of his internal monologue by the sudden introductions. He politely nodded his head and went in for a handshake…

…only to be completely enveloped in Hunk’s arms in the most intense hug Keith had ever experienced. By intense, he meant suffocating: Keith could almost feel his lungs being crushed and he struggled for breath.

“So you’re Keith! Ever since Pidge told me that Lance had gotten a new boyfriend I’ve been dying to know what he looks like. As far as appearances go, I suppose you’re not ugly or anything, but boy do you suck at archery. Not that that matters mind you- what’s important is that you treat my best friend right, and until I’m convinced that that you do, there’s no way you’re getting my Best Friend Seal of Approval; I’m not letting Lance go to just anyone-”

“HUNK!! What the QUIZNAK! It’s not like that! Keith isn’t my boyfriend, he’s my bodyguard, and I’m afraid he won’t even be that for much longer if you don’t let go of him- he’s suffocating!”

“Oh right! Sorry pal,” Hunk released Keith from his death hug, and Keith couldn’t stop himself from clutching his side and gasping in sweet oxygen. As he attempted to revive himself, he felt a warm hand lightly grasp his shoulder.

“You alright there buddy? Sorry, Hunk can get a little…excited at times…”

Keith straightened up his posture and choked out a little “I’m fine”.

As Lance turned back to his friend Hunk he removed his hand from Keith’s shoulder.  
Strangely, the spot where Lance had touched him now felt weird and tingly, as if it was aching for that warmth to return. What kind of weird space flu did I get??

“ANYWAYS, do you have some free time right now? We should totally hang out; gosh we haven’t had some fun together in like, ages! Oh! I know, let’s go hover-racing in the wastes, I’ll totally kick your ass!”

Hunk threw his hands on his hips and sassed him right back,

“Oh, it. Is. On.” 

Lance whirled around and shot Keith the biggest, pleading puppy dog eyes that he had ever seen.

“Pleaaase can you extend my hour of free time? Pretty pretty please?”

The last thing Keith wanted to do was come between their friendship, plus he had a really hard time saying no to those sparkling, beautiful eyes.

“Fine,” He said with a heavy heart and defeated look, “just make sure you guys are back before your afternoon lecture with Coran.”

“SWEET!” Lance hollered as he pumped his fist in the air. “Wait- what do you mean by ‘you guys’, you’re coming too, right?”

Keith was suddenly taken by surprise, why was he being invited along? Oh right, bodyguard. For a moment there Keith forgot about the nature of their relationship. His orders were to stay with him 24/7, so obviously he’d have to go along.

“Right, duty calls I guess. Don’t worry, I won’t get in your guys’ way- unless you start doing some dumb shit.”

At that, Lance pinched his brows together with clear concern, “What are talking about? I didn’t mean it like that; we’re friends aren’t we? So drop the whole ‘bodyguard thing’ and come hang out with us.”

...wait, friends? Since when? Sure, they weren’t enemies or anything, but did they qualify as friends yet? What qualifies as friends anyway? What are the specific requirements for friendship? Keith suddenly felt very out of his element and...exposed, what was he supposed to do in this situation?

“...we’re...friends?” He tentatively questioned.

Lance had a look of utter disbelief on his face. He blinked at Keith in silence for a few moments as if he had said something in a completely different language.

“Umm yeah? What the fuck dude, of course we are. I thought that was obvious?” His tone quickly changed as he smirked and teased, “What, you never had a friend before?”

“Not really, no.”

Silence.

“Um. That’s. Uh- I...” Lance’s mouth continued to open and close as if there were a billion different things that he wanted to say but after a few tics of struggling all that managed to come out was,

“...That’s rough buddy.”

Luckily Hunk came to rescue their awkward asses yet again, practically beaming,

“Well, now you have TWO friends! Congratulations man! Anywayyyyyys I already cleared it with Coran before I came over to find you, he said you could take the rest of the day off. Of course, he also said that you’d have to pay for it tomorrow by cleaning the cryopods.”

“What?! Ugh, whatever- let’s just get going before he changes his mind!”

Lance and Hunk quickly started scrambling off together towards the hover-bikes, and after a moment’s hesitation, Keith stalked after them. 

\---------------------------------------  
\---------------------------------------

The wastes were located just beyond the hills that hugged the outskirts of the city gates: a vast stretch of barren plains and crumbling gorges, made up of coarse red sand and ancient stone ruins that ended abruptly- dropping away down sheer cliffs to the swirling ocean below. In Lance’s history classes, he learned that this area used to be the site of one of the first Altean colonies, however, due to a sudden and devastating earthquake nearly the entire city collapsed and slid off into the sea. 

Even though the wastes were now relatively stable, most people wouldn’t go there due to the foreboding atmosphere- the empty shell of what once was echoed deep and silent within the hearts of all who ventured there. 

Except for Lance of course.

Lance loved the wastes, in fact when he would sneak out in the past this place was often where he’d come. Sure, it was creepy as hell, but it was also nice and quiet (some would say eerily so, but Lance always thought of it as comforting), he could forget about the princely frame that everyone was always so eager to encase him in and recharge for a while. 

Today however, was not for recharging at all- it was for racing! On hover-bikes, that is (which were totally legally borrowed, Lance might add). Back when Coran was younger (or as he referred to them: in His Glory Days) he had a weird hobby of collecting random mechanical parts and “assembling” them into miscellaneous vehicles that more or less (it was less) looked like actual vehicles. Luckily though there were a few successes over the years which had accumulated in a long forgotten storage bay beneath the castle. Nobody would ever notice if one or two went missing for a couple of hours…

Which brings us back to the current activity. They were now well into the wastes, and far enough away from the city that no would be able to hear the wheezing engine noises or their loud banter as they messed around without supervision.

One section of the abandoned city had sprawled out in such a way that it formed a sort of ovular track, which was littered with stone obstacles and winding curves- perfect for racing each other!

They had two bikes with them, so two people could race at one time whilst the other stood at the mark point to see them off. It was agreed that Lance and Hunk would race first since they were already familiar with the track.

Bikes mounted and excitement brewing, the two friends lined up behind the hastily etched startline and revved their engines. 

“Are you ready to eat my dust Hunk?” Lance taunted with that trademark smirk of his.

“Oh, I assure you that the only thing I’ll be eating today is a gourmet roast lightly basted in a rich Senkarian broth in celebration of my indisputable victory!”

“Dude now you’re making me hungry…”

“Alright” Keith interrupted, “are you guys racing or what? Now, on the count of three: one… two...THREE!”

Clouds of red dust kicked up into the air as they took off down the misshapen track. Despite their condition, the old hover-bikes were surprisingly speedy- in fact, they appeared to be all speed and no precision...at all. Lance and Hunk were swerving like maniacs all over the place trying to avoid boulders, ancient pieces of architecture, and each other!  
After only a minute had passed it was clear to everyone involved that Lance would come out the winner this round, and sure enough a few minutes later he came roaring back to the startline and sputtered to an abrupt halt.

“Woo! Yeah, told you you’d eat dust! Haha!”

Hunk, having just arrived at the startline himself, didn’t look too surprised at his loss, but was a good sport about it nonetheless. 

“Yeah yeah, yippee for you. That’s about all the high-velocity death racing my stomach can handle for the moment though- Keith, you’re up! Kick his ass please.”

Keith stepped up to the bike, and the awkwardness that had surrounded him since they had first set off completely dissipated as he swung his leg over the bike and settled into the seat in one fluid and powerful motion. 

“It would be my pleasure” Keith grinned up at Lance, the challenge stirring up new tensions of competition and some other feeling that Lance couldn't quite pin down…. all he new for sure was that Keith looked damned fine straddling that hover-bike.

“Oh it’s on, Mullet!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry (not really) if there’s grammar mistakes, for some reason I only have inspiration to write between 10pm-3am so I’m always in a semi-delirious state when I’m proof-reading this shit lol.
> 
> Definitely will be updating this more frequently than once a year, hopefully I’ll have the next chapter up in a few days :) I know if I make a deadline/schedule for myself I’ll go out of my way to ignore it and self-destruct so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens? <3


	5. Space Flu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don’t be mislead by the title, this ain’t a sick fic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just realized that when I started writing this Shallura was still a thing? as cute and innocent as it is, I don’t think I think I can bring myself to keep that ship going in future chapters. It was never going to be a major plot point anyway so we’ll see what happens. I just feel like I’m betraying Adam lol
> 
> Anywho things are starting to move now, so enjoy some shitty klance fluff

**CHAPTER 5**

 

“Oh it’s on, Mullet.”

 

...is what he said out loud, but internally Lance was starting to worry a little. _This guy seems to actually know what he’s doing, could he really beat me? Nahhh, I mean I’m sure he’s good and all but cmon, I’m_ Lance, _plus I know these ruins like the back of my hand! I totally got this!_

 

They both lined up at the startline and got into position. Keith revved his engine- a low purr at first that quickly erupted into a thunderous roar. _Pssh, show-off._ Lance, feeling the need to match the other’s cockiness, revved up his own engine as loudly as possible and glanced over at Keith, the taunt easily read across his features.

 

Keith answered, and once again revved his engine- and the vicious cycle continued until the two them were just aggressively making all sorts of noises at each (Lance’s bike was adorned with a little bell) until the whole area sounded like a fucking war zone.

 

“Alright! Cut it out with the flirting you two, racing is serious business!” Hunk stepped up to the bikes and raised his arms, ready to begin the countdown.

 

“HEY! I wasn’t….we weren’t..I ju- HE STARTED IT” Lance pointed his finger towards Keith accusingly.

 

“Uh huh sure, blame it all on me,” Keith rolled his eyes, but there was a barely perceptible softness to his face that let Lance know that the eye roll was filled with affection. _Okay maybe like, a little bit of annoyance, but mostly affection._

 

“I’m counting now guys, get ready!”

 

ONE…

TWO…

THREEEEE!”

 

And off they went! Keith practically flew down the track, leaving just a trail of smoke for Lance to follow. _Dammit why is he so fast, how is that even possible???_

 

Lance kicked his speed up a notch as well, and chased after that still very distinguishable mullet off in the distance. It didn’t take long before Lance was closing in on him, but the way he was swerving and jumping all over the track made it nearly impossible to get an opening to pass him.

 

Coming up around a corner there was a fallen pillar laying across the track, making it like a bottleneck- a very narrow passage where one could just barely fit through. _This is it, this is my chance to ride his ass and then pass him once the road opens up again!_

 

As they were approaching, Lance noticed Keith wasn’t steering towards the narrow passage at all….in fact it seemed like he was speeding up (if that was even possible).... and heading right towards the pillar!

 

_What the QUIZNAK IS THIS BOY THINKING??!!_

 

Lance’s eyes nearly popped right out of their sockets as he watched Keith effortlessly jump up onto the pillar and use it like a ramp to launch himself off the other side towards the finish line!

 

_Are you fucking kidding me -_-_

 

This boy was really fucking reckless! Lance wouldn’t have believed that he could pull off that stunt if hadn’t seen it for himself. Gritting his teeth, he continued through the pass and out the other side- glaring the entire way at the mullet weaving all over the track, once again way ahead of him.

 

_Quiznak, how does he make this look so fucking graceful?_

 

Keith turned around in his seat to check on Lance’s progress, and when he met Lance’s eye’s his face instantly broke out into a wild smile, and for that split second the setting altean sun caught him and made him glow in soft reds and golds like a fucking pure angelic being.

 

“NOW WHO’S EATING DUST, ASSHOLE!”

 

_Wow. Rude bitch. I take it back, he’s a demon and shouldn’t be allowed to look that hot._

 

Keith crossed the finish line in no time at all, and although Lance was able to make up almost the entire distance that was between them, he still fell _just_ short of being able to pass him before the victory was decided.

 

After they’d both come to a stop, Lance instantly opened his mouth to start chastising him for cheating, but right as the words were about to start pouring out Keith just had to go and run his fingers through his wavy, mussed up hair and look up at him in the warm evening light, a cute lil’ “heh” escaping his soft lips.

 

“...fuck me.”

 

Keith furrowed his brow.

 

“aaaAAAAAA I MEAN FUCK _YOU_! There is literally no way you could’ve made that jump- you totally cheated didn't you!”

 

“No? It’s just basic physics Lance- don’t be a sore loser.”

 

“I’m not!” Lance lifted his chin up in the air in defiance, “I accept my defeat... _this time_. But mark my words pretty boy, I WILL destroy you!”

 

“I’m looking forward to it,” Keith said with a sly grin (which _definitely_ did not make Lance’s heart squeeze).

 

“Guys I’m like, right here. Hello?” Hunk stepped in between them. “Yeah so like, I’m freaking starving, plus it’s starting to get dark out- we should start heading back now I think.”

 

“Fine, but this isn’t over Mullet,” Lance jabbed a finger at Keith, who only shrugged in response.

 

Hunk then semi-forcefully commandeered the hover-bike that Lance was on, “You can ride back with Keith,” he said with an over-exaggerated smile that basically screamed betrayal as he rode back towards the city as fast as he could.

 

_Seriously dude?_ Lance turned to face Keith, who had already rolled up on the bike next to him.

 

“Well? Get on, we don’t have all day.”

 

Grumbling under his breath, Lance climbed onto the seat and tried to sit as far away from Keith as physically possible, which was like, 2 inches since this seat was not very big. Lance felt like he could barely breathe at all, because _omg he’s literally right there and fuck why is his hair so pretty I wanna touch it dammit._

 

“Giddy up cowboy.” _Ugggghh why did I SAY THAT?? That was stupid, stupid Lance!_

 

“You better hang on then,” even though Lance couldn’t see his face he could practically hear the mischief in his voice as Keith suddenly lurched the bike forward and up into a wheelie, which would’ve sent Lance flying off the back if he didn’t instinctively shoot his arms around Keith’s waist.

 

“Aahh! You jerk!”

 

Keith’s only response was unbridled laughter as he took off and started the trek back home.

 

\---------------------------------------

\---------------------------------------

 

Keith almost (almost being the keyword there) regretted telling Lance to hang on, because now with his tanned arms wrapped tightly around his waist and the warmth of his body pressing into his back Keith was finding it _very_ difficult to focus on driving- which has literally never happened before, making Keith just as equally confused as he was _totally panicking because holy shit he is literally RIGHT THERE what do I do? How am I supposed to act normal in this situation? Wait, this isn’t that weird a situation so why am I reacting like this? And why is my face super warm again? I’ve definitely contracted some kind of space flu, I really need to tell Shiro about this._

 

Keith didn’t realize he had been holding his breath until he let out a deep sigh the second they got back and dismounted the bike. _Thank fucking quiznak that’s over_ . But at the same time, Keith was hyper aware of the loss of warmth that was there just a few seconds ago...and he _missed it._

 

_I’m so fucked._

 

\---------------------------------------

\---------------------------------------

 

Takashi Shirogane had always considered himself to be a fair and responsible leader, but when it came to Keith he just couldn’t stop himself from teasing the little shit. In many ways Shiro practically raised the kid; he saw him as the little brother he never had, and so obviously his greatest fulfillment in life came from endlessly tormenting him. Okay, so maybe helping him grow as person was nice too, but not without having some fun with it along the way.

 

When this whole arrangement first started, Shiro felt kind of bad- especially during the first few days when it was clearly obvious that the pair was at each other’s throats 24/7. Unfortunately he had to go away on mission during the last two weeks, so this will be his first time checking up on Keith in a while. _I wonder how they’re getting along?_

 

Shiro rounded a corner in one of the many hallways connecting the Castle of Lions and stepped into the dining hall, where lively conversation and laughter were spilling out of. Glancing into the room he could see the young Prince sat at the table animatedly sharing some wild story (Shiro assumed it was wild due to how much he was waving his arms around as he spoke) to two others sitting near him- a larger, darker skinned altean, and one of the Olkari researches Shiro has seen running around the castle. And of course, there was Keith, sitting right next to Lance and...unexpectedly not looking miserable. In fact, he was _almost_ smiling.

 

_Well that’s new._

 

Shiro continued to observe him (Keith also surprisingly didn’t seem to notice his presence yet), and he couldn’t help but notice that Keith’s eyes rarely left Lance’s face, and even though he wasn’t saying much you could tell that he was listening to Prince Lance’s dramatic tale very intently.

 

_Thank quiznak they seem to be actually getting along- it’s good to see Keith making friends for once._

 

“I trust that you guys are keeping out if trouble?” That remark seemed to get everyone's attention.

 

Keith instantly straightened to his feet, “Shiro, you’re back.”

 

Shiro gave him a fond smile and a nod, then turned to the Prince.

 

“Your highness,” he said with a respectful bow, “I trust my subordinate here is treating you well?”

 

“Pfft, as well as one could expect from a crazed beast! He’s literally insane!”

 

Keith’s brows twitched at that, and Shiro could tell that he was just _aching_ to bite back with an equally petty remark, but he held back since Shiro was in the room (not that Shiro’s presence has ever stopped him before, mind you).

 

“Sounds like everything’s going perfect then,” Shiro put on his best dad smile that said _this is exactly what you deserve and there will be absolutely no complaining._

 

The Prince definitely pouted at that, but for once he kept his mouth shut, clearly aware of how he got himself into this mess in the first place.

 

Still addressing the Prince, Shiro continued, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to borrow Mr.Kogane for just a moment.”

 

“Oh please do, in fact feel free to never return him!”

 

Shiro chuckled, then gestured to Keith to follow him out into the hall. Once they were safely out of ear shot, he turned around with a stupid grin on his face.

 

“So? How’s the Prince? Everything going okay?”

 

“Lance is...a handful, but as annoying as he is sometimes we’re actually starting to get along really well. The worst part of the day is always when I have to wake him up- boy he is NOT a morning person, you should see his bed head haha. But… I did have some other concerns…”

 

“Oh?”

 

“I think I might be sick? I keep having weird fevers that come and go rapidly, and my heart rate will suddenly spike. Also I keep getting this weird lurching feeling in my stomach, kind of like when you jump out of a ship...but the weirdest thing is that it only seems to happen when I’m around Lance? Okay I know I’m literally with him 24/7 but I mean like if we get really physically close...do you think it’s possible to develop an allergy to another person?”

 

_What. Is he...is he for real?_ Shiro bit down hard on his cheek to stop himself from choking on laughter.

 

“Uhh-ahem, um no...no it’s not possible to be allergic to another person.” He was trying so _goddamn_ hard to keep a straight face right now. “And I don’t think you have a space flu either.” He stared at Keith for a long moment, into those deep, intense eyes that were imploring up at him, waiting for answers. _Sigh._

 

“I think that the next time this happens, you should pay close attention to the exact feelings you’re experiencing in that moment, and what happens right before those feelings are triggered.”

 

“Feelings? I just told you my symptoms though?”

 

“No Keith, I’m talking about _emotions._ ”

 

Keith’s face went blank, but Shiro could see the gears turning behind his eyes, processing.

 

“...what?...like.. _feelings?_ I...no, I don’t understand, there’s just….” His sentence trailed off, brows furrowing and his eyes...almost looked glazed over?

  

_Oh geez, I think I just broke him._ Shiro awkwarky clapped his hand on the back of Keith’s shoulder in his best ‘reassuring dad’ way, “Take your time, and try not to overthink it, trust me.” He winked. “Anyways, I don’t want to keep you from your duties, so how about you head on back in there? We’ll chat again later.”

 

Keith answered with a barely perceptible nod, and then slowly turned back towards the dining hall, where his new friends and still unbeknownst-to-him crush await. Once he was safely behind doors, Shiro fucking lost it- burying his face into his palm and trying not to die from wheezing. _I don’t know what the quiznak I’m going to do with this guy, I mean I love him, but he’s so freaking clueless sometimes!_

 

_I knew this was going to be good for him..._

 

\---------------------------------------

\---------------------------------------

  


When Commander Shiro had taken Keith outside, Lance had immediately begun to worry. _Did he do something wrong? Did_ I _do something wrong?? What if the Blades of Marmora need him for a mission and I never get to see him again? Oh no, what if he dies on the mission????_

 

“Dude, you look like someone just over-boiled your hapjah seeds and then seasoned them cinnago salts.”

 

“Huh?” Lance looked up at Hunk, his worry overwritten with confusion.

 

“Oh c’mon, everyone knows that’s one of the biggest culinary atrocities you could ever commit.”

 

“Uh, I think what Hunk’s trying to say is that you look….concerned? About something?” Pidge threw on a devilish grin, “You keep glancing at the door over there….where Keith went,” she wiggled her eyebrows, as if she knew some big secret.

 

“Yeaaaaaah,” Hunk chimed in, “Keeeiiith.”

 

“I don’t know what either of you are talking about,” Lance raised his brows, “And why shouldn’t I be concerned? I mean, he’s _my_ bodyguard after all, it would be weird if I wasn’t.”

 

“Pfft- bodyguard….more like _babysitter_ ,” Pidge elbowed Hunk in the ribs and both of them started chuckling.

 

“Wha- I DO _NOT_ NEED A BABYSITTER!!! Keith is my _bodyguard,_ nothing more nothing less, understand?”

 

“Are you _sure_ it’s nothing more??” Hunk probed.

 

“Well….I mean, we’re friends too. I’m allowed to be friends with him, there’s nothing wrong with that!” Lance explained a little too quickly.

 

Just then, the sliding door to the dining hall _wooshed_ open, and in walked Keith with a dazed look on his face. He didn’t make eye contact with anyone and strode directly to his chair, sitting down straight as a board (and as silent as one too). Even though Keith was known to be somewhat reserved, this behaviour- in contrast to his moments ago easiness and light-hearted banter- struck everyone at the table as rather odd. The trio all exchanged concerned looks before Lance spoke up.

 

“Hey man, you okay?”

 

Keith darted his eyes up to meet Lance’s, then quickly glanced away, “Uh yeah, m’fine.”

 

“What did the commander want? Is everything okay?”

 

“Oh, Shiro was just dropping by- checking in and all that. Everything is fine.” He choked out that last part.

 

“Shiro? You mean Commander Shirogane? You know him??” Hunk asked from across the table, incredulous.

 

“Yeah Shi- Commander Shirogane kind of….raised me? I guess? He’s kind of like an older brother. Helped me get into the Garrison.”

 

“Wait- wait hold up! What do you mean _he raised you?”_ Hunk blurted out the question.

 

“I’m an orphan. He looked after me.”

 

“Oh- OH geez I’m so sorry, I had no idea…”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

Silence fell upon the group, uncomfortable and heavy.

 

Lance wanted to say something, to probe deeper- but he was very much aware of Pidge and Hunk’s presence at the moment and figured he should wait until they were alone. _How did I not know this? What else don’t I know? We’ve been practically attached at the hip for the past 2 weeks, yet can I even honestly say that I know him? He doesn’t exactly talk about himself….I wonder what his hobbies are? What his favourite colour is? Does he enjoy music? I know he said he’s never danced before but maybe he wants to? I bet he’d be super clumsy and awkward...but then again he might sweep me off my feet…._

 

“Sooooooo Keith, how long does it take Lance to get ready in the morning? I’ve always wondered.” Pidge was the first to break the ice again.

 

“Average time is an hour and 15 minutes.”

 

“ _WHAT?!_ Lance how do you have so much to do??? I mean I guess I was expecting a ridiculous answer like this but _still.”_

 

“Hey! Beauty is not to be taken lightly! Have you seen my skin? _Glowing!_ It fucking glows!”

 

Everyone started laughing at that, and then the topic began to move naturally from one thing to the next, filled with teasing and debating as the 4 friends giggled away in the dining hall until it was quite late and their yawns kept interrupting them.

 

\---------------------------------------

\---------------------------------------

 

Keith shuffled into the bedroom after Lance, having just come back from the dining hall. For once, Lance hadn’t talked his ear off walking back. Rather, he seemed kind of nervous, wringing his hands together and opening and closing his mouth as if he was wanting to speak. Keith would’ve been more concerned if he wasn’t already preoccupied with his own problems, aka everything Shiro said during their little ‘chat’ earlier.

 

“Um well, goodnight. Keith.” Lance stuttered out. He was standing next to his vanity, nearly bouncing on his toes. Clearly he had something on his mind, and Keith _really_ just wanted to go to bed and end this day already, but he bit anyways.

 

“Lance? Something you wanted to say?”

 

“No um, I mean it’s nothing really, I just… what’s your favourite colour?”

 

_Huh? This is what was bothering him?_

 

Truthfully, Keith had never even thought about his favourite colour, he wasn’t even sure if he _had_ one. But as he stood there in the dimly lit bedroom, with the cool night breeze gently blowing in from the open window, all Keith seemed to be able to focus on was that pair of eyes- light and shimmering, turquoise and azure- looking back at him, entrancing him.

 

“Blue. My favourite colour is blue.”

 

“Oh, cool. Yeah blue is nice, good colour.”

 

Keith shook his head, the shadow of a smile gracing his lips. _This boy doesn’t make any sense_.

 

“Goodnight, Lance.” He strode over to the smaller doorway leading to his room, and with one final glance over his shoulder, he went inside. _Alone at last_.

 

Like a robot, he mindlessly got into bed- not even bothering to undress. He lay there under the covers, eyes wide open and unblinking. His thoughts were running a mile a minute, chaotic and jumbled- Keith didn’t even know where to start with unraveling them.

 

_Feelings._

 

No. It wasn’t true. It can’t be true. Keith really didn’t want it to be true.

 

Images and memories of Lance flooded into his mind- his stupid cocky grin, the way he bites his lip when he’s focusing, the bubbly and light sound of his laughter, the way his perfectly groomed eyebrows dance across his face in a million different expressions. Keith could feel his stomach flipping and churning, his breath catching in his lungs.

He thought about the way Lance had held him tight on the hover-bike earlier today, the feel of his warm, toned body pressing into his own so close that he could feel his heart beating against his back. Now Keith could feel his skin blushing hot all over, as more and more thoughts of Lance ripped into his brain and took over his ability to function.

 

No matter how hard he tried to ignore it or pass it off as something else, even Keith wasn’t able to deny the truth of what he felt in his heart and his entire body.

 

_Fuck._

 

_I like Lance._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uuuuuuhhhhhhhhh yeah ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> I’m so excited for the next few chapters, but tbh I don’t know how this going to end yet. I told myself I wouldn’t make it angsty but fuck it’s so hard to resist  
> :)))))))))))))

**Author's Note:**

> okay so first of all thanks to anyone who actually read this <3  
> Klance is literally the air i fucking breathe- I love these two dorks so quiznaking much!! I plan on updating around once week...ish ^^  
> i don’t really know how to end this so I’ll just say thanks again for reading!!! seriously!! Comments and kudos are more than welcome, let me know what you think! <3333


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